SweetTooths
by beautifulprince
Summary: An American girl leaves her home and the States... but what does this have to do with the Sohmas? The Zodiac and Tohru embrace a relationship no one expected! Lots of spoilers, WARNING. YukixOC... maybe x3 RR&R, no flamies please first fanfic ever!
1. A Fortunate or Unfortunate Encounter

**Today I have brought a special treat for all of our Sweet-Tooths out there - MOMIJI-KUN!!! (I don't care if this is childish or outlandish or whatever you guys say nowadays. I just like this kind of talk. No flames, please!!!)**

**lolchic: Hai, Momiji-kun!!!**

**Momiji: *licking a super big swirly lollipop* HAL-LO LOLCHIC AND EVERYBODY ELSE!! Oh, wait, HAI TOHRU-SAN!!**

**l: OK, so here's the deal. In Sweet-Tooths special, we're talking about the sugary side that everyone wants to hear about in the Furuba mangas!!! (yes, manga, people... READ IT) Since you are about the sweetest person I could think of in my morning stupor, your'e first!!**

**M: YAY!!! This is so much fun, JA?**

**l: So, tell us you're sweet side, Momiji-kun!**

**M: *pulls out another super-large lollipop from bunny backpack (how much space can that thing hold?!) and hands it to lolchic* I have candy to spare for those I really care!!**

**l: *grabs lollipop from Momiji and shoves into mouth* Wow, thanks, I'm starving!!**

**M: *sort of scared by over-enthusiasm* Ah... yes! *returns to blissful bunny-happiness*And I love Momo-san and Tohru-san and Hatori-san and Hatsu-haru-chan and Kagura-san and Ritsu-san and Kisa-san and-**

**l: WELLL... if we continue this, then we're going to make my story look horrible in comparison. *Snaps fingers* Kyo!**

**Kyo: *extremely agitated from being forced into a Hello Kitty costume* WHAAAAATTT???**

**l: *threateningly holding a fistful of leek in hand* DO IT...**

**K: *sweat-drop doing down forehead, then making a face as breaking into song* OOOHHH, lolchic DOESN'T OWN FRUITS BASKET, OR ANY OF THESE CHARACTERS AT AAAAALLLLLL... (EXCEPT RUKA) AND THAT'S THE END OF THIS SOOOONGGGG...**

**l & M: AGAIN!!**

**K: NO WAY!!!**

*********Chapter 1 Beginning at last**********

**So this is Kainbara High School**.

She stood in front of the blocky, bleach-white building of Kainbara High School with a brown bag casually slung over her shoulder. Even with her brown-framed glasses and somewhat serious appearance, her other features were quite prominent – Ruka was tall, slender girl with round, electric-green eyes, a pale, oval face, and small but obvious curves. In other words, she was quite stunning. Guys eyed her warily, and even girls paused to look at the stranger. Though she looked approachable, they kept their distance from her, furtively peeking out of the corner of their eyes as they talked. Not noticing any of the probing glances, the new student eyed her new way of life with sharp eyes.

Ruka's thin white hand tugged at the hem of her skirt uncomfortably, a little jealous of the school boys parading around the campus. Before she moved to Japan, Ruka lived in a quiet town in Michigan State. And, she thought with a pang of longing, attended schools that didn't require girls to wear skirts.

Gentle winds tousled her shaggy short hair, rushing past her to rattle playfully at the plum trees and patches of rose gardens, spreading flower petals everywhere. Ruka's grip on her skirt tightened, but she suddenly noticed the warm, welcoming beams of the sun as the petals swirled around her. The grip on her skirt relaxed, and the teenager closed her eyes in the shades of the trees. **The perks of this place**, Ruka thought with a contented sigh, **is that the atmosphere really does know how to make you feel at home.**

The school bell interrupted any further thoughts, jingling the beginning to the new school day. **To a new chapter in my life**, Ruka realized with a jolt of surprise.

Students started to file into the school doors, and Ruka decided to just lay back and watch her fellow students shove each other to get through the school doors. Ruka giggled lightly as the wind tickled her face again, sitting down on a nearby bench and waiting patiently for the coffee-fueled troublemakers to shove themselves inside. As the crowd eventually began to thin, Ruka got up from her perch and walked towards the open.

Just as our character started inside, a tingling sensation played at the back of her neck, making her spin around to face the strange presence behind her. As she turned, a girl with dark hair and nails gently brushed past her, silent as a ghost. She whipped her head around to get a better look at the girl. Something about the peculiar, opaque eyes of the schoolgirl made Ruka's feet glue to the ground and stare after her as she slowly walked out of her sight.

**Wooowww... I really did overshadow this chapter with the whole beginning-thing, didn't I? I guess I got carried away with everything... again... *sigh*.. and R&R for me, and please tell me which Sweet Tooth I should pick for the next interview!! *sob* I was going to do Yuki-kun for my first Sweet Tooth, but Momiji got in the way... it's a long story. Please forgive me for this chapter, it's my first fanfic ever and I'm reaaaalllyyy nervous... I'll try to get back as soon as I get lots of interviews, or when I can get back to this as soon as possible... sayonara!! ^___^**


	2. They Have To Come With Me

**l: Aaaaannnndddd… I'm back in Sweet Tooths Central, here with another one of my favorite people ever for this interview – wait for it – you'll never guess – **

**Ayame: YOUR DEAREST AYAME-SAAAANNN!!!! *gets right up to camera* Today, you will be graced with my wonderful aurora and charmed by the wonderful, sugar-sweet side of me that everyone looooovvvveees!!!! And back to you, lolchic. **

**l: *trying to recover from the unexpected performance (I still get scared when I read about Ayame…)* Ah, yes, *clears throat* our Ayame-san is here today to – **

**Mine: *standing rigidly and hauntingly over lolchic with a mad look in her eyes* DO YOU LIKE TO DRESS UP!!!???**

**l: YAHHHHH!!! *runs away from Mine, who is holding a frilly horror story of a dress over her head, screaming "PUT IT ON PUT IT ON PUT IT ON!!!"**

**A: *miraculously ignoring the dilemma occurring in the background* ALRIGHTY, MY SWEETS, *peers at script for a second, and tosses it over his shoulder and clapping his hands together* It seems that I am supposed to express the most delectable part of me that you, all my very greatest fans, are obviously **_**dying**_** to know…**

**M: *somehow managing to bind and gag lolchic and dragging her to the nearest dressing room, and turning as she closes the door behind her* **_**I'll be right baaacccckkkk…**_

**A: *glances at Mine and smiles* Ah, I can tell that Mine already likes my newest friend! *turning back to camera and getting close to the camera so that his face blocked all other view* I declare – that my sweet and passionate side – is with my **_**dearest**_** Yuki-kun!! He is everything to me, and I will not give up in proceeding our relationship into the closest brotherly bond there has ever been on PLANET EARTH!!! Though he acts as if he hates me, and scowls when I talk, I know that all he wants is to be like his marvelous brother… ME!!! Do not worry, dear Yuki - *puts hands to his heart* I know your true, deepest secret, and I swear from the very bottom of my cherished heart that I will bring us together forever and ever and – **

**Yuki: *bursts into room, with a sinister expression on his face, and speaks in a scary voice: Ayame…**

**A: *Gets what's going to happen and runs out the door, laughing hysterically***

**Y: *runs after him with a killer look on his face now* COME BACK, YOU SNAKE!!!**

**M: *pops head out of dressing room and sees Yuki running out* YUKIIII!!!! *brandishes a dress and runs after him* LET'S PLAY DRESSS UUUPPPPP!!!!!**

**l: * walks out of room in an elegant, lace-trimmed dress adorned with at least 10 pounds of pearls and opals on it. She immediately bolts door after Mine, and feebly faces the audience* Th-that's all, everyone… and… remember that I don't own Fruits Basket… or… *weakly points after Mine* THAT wouldn't have happened…**

**********Chapter 2 Beginning At Last***********

Still slightly shaken from the unexplainable event, Ruka blinked back into focus at the sound of the very last tardy bell. "Oh, SHOOT!" She yelled into the empty hallways. She dug into her backpack for her school map, and suddenly, she remembered – the school map was safe at home, snug between the pages of a Harry Potter novel. "Double-shoot," Ruka muttered, bounding around the school. 1-D, 1-D, 1-D. As simple as the room number was (at her old school, classes are numbered things like 386 or 984), she somehow managed to get lost in the ridiculously simple-planned school. Her hurried footsteps eerily echoed in the ghost-like skeletons of the school, and the only thing that Ruka could think of right then was getting to class as soon as possible. She remembered dreaming of countless scenarios while on the plane to Japan, when she was still trying to cheer herself from her constant dread of rejection.

She would walk to class just as the bell would ring, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and emit a dazzling smile as the teacher would introduce her to the classroom. The class would be in awe, and welcome her like a long-lost queen, asking what America was like, where she came from, and complimenting her hair. Then she would laugh with the best and closest friends that she had ever made as she would go to slumber parties and field trips to Tokyo and get a scholarship and–

Ruka turned into another hallway, bright with sunlight pouring into the open window. It was a rather nice scene, with a breathtaking view of the school gardens and all, but that wasn't what caught Ruka's attention. It was the three people that were standing in the center of it. Two of them, a girl and a boy, were in school uniforms, but the other person, a dark-haired beauty of a man dressed in even darker clothes. The dark-haired boy was talking to the other boy in an informal manner, like he knew him… the other boy, grey-haired and purple-eyed, obviously didn't like him. Ruka skidded to a stop; this was obviously a bad situation, but something in her heart told her to stop the forming scene.

She picked up her pace and bounded to the shortest route towards them. As she circled the group, she could see that the other boy, who was unbelievably beautiful, as she was unable to deny, had a haunted look in his eyes, and the girl was standing back, looking from one boy to the other with a worried look in her crisp blue eyes. She started to hear them talking…

"Although I have become more generous lately…" the dark one murmured in a low, calm voice, "But you doing that really breaks my heart!" (gay relationship?) He touched the other boy's face. "I'll have to re-educate you…" his voice suddenly ran cold, and his words, as harmless as they sounded, seemed to have other meanings, meanings that were so evil and dark that they seemed to chill on Ruka's heart with every syllable. "…for a whole day…" he continued even more calmly, "to teach you the meaning of-"

It was by this time that Ruka had finally flung the emergency escape door open, marching into the scene as Akito whirled around, muttering his last word like a question. "living…?"

Ruka stopped in front of the surprised group of people, who looked more shocked than she was. She looked at the group, trying to catch her breath, and suddenly realized that it might have been wiser for her to let the argument resolve itself. The three people stared at her, and she felt cornered.

Ruka looked at a tree behind Akito's left ear, scrambling for something in her mind that could resolve the situation. A brief, awkward moment of silence later, Ruka turned to the harried youth and overly-surprised little girl. "Ah," she choked. Then she pulled on a face of determination, and bowed deeply to the group. "I am very sorry, but, ah…" she gestured to the grey-haired boy and the little girl. "these two," she babbled, gulped, and then spoke more confidently. "They have to come with me."

*END OF CHAPTER 2*

**YAAAAAYYYY!!! Another happy, happy chapter! For all of you who have no idea what happened here, go and read the first chapter!! (sure, it stinks, but look at this cool, **_**action-packed**_** piece of work!) Now… REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!! Mine has more frilly dresses for you if you don't!! *^____^***


	3. Tohru, WE'RE in class 1D

**lolchic: *still slightly pale from last interview's disaster* Eh… *looks around for any wild Mines or Ayames* Hi, everyone, welcome back *cheering* TO THE THIRD CHAPTER OF SWEET TOOTHS MANIA! **

**I'm sorry for not publishing sooner – homework, exams, and the old summer blues kept on kicking in and just wouldn't leave me alone until now.**

**I've decided to cancel all interviews with the Furuba cast (tell me if you still want me to!) and will continue with little do-dads of this story and the story of Fruits Basket.**

**P.S. I changed the story's view from third-person to first-person. However, there are certain parts in here that will have third-person. Confusing, but I think that it makes the story even better!**

**P.S.S. I do not own Fruits Basket, nor any of its characters, even though I love them like my family (as for Yuki, maybe more… *^_^*), and it would be really cool if I did. But I DON'T, so leave me alone. Ruka's an exception, though, she's all my own genius. :P If you find any of the gay-related content in this story insulting, do not apprehend or torture me. I have a super-awesome gay friend, and Ruka's only getting crabby at Akito in this story because he's always so rude to everyone. And she's only making assumptions, okay? So please don't be mean to me.**

**Thanks to:**

**miss-latina**

**for giving me hope to write this chapter. As soon as I figure out how to work this FanFic gadget doohickey, I'll see if I can reply to your reviews.**

**~~~~Chapter 3 FINALLY BEGINS!~~~~~~**

"They have to come with me." I blurted. My face, though flushed, was now determined. Black-hair looked at Purple-eyes and Kawaii-girl, still slightly confused.

"Do you know her?" Before Purple-eyes and Kawaii-girl could answer, I interrupted. "No, they wouldn't really know me, sir." Black-hair turned back to me, puzzlement in his eyes becoming even more clear by the second. "You see, I'm new here, and I couldn't find my way to class and– " Black-hair's eyes became hard and opaque again as he "understood the situation".

I could almost see the gears working in his head. "Of course," For some reason, I could almost hear him thinking. "some lady looking for directions, that's all. Nothing special, nothing to be worried about, it's okay, it's fine…" _What's okay?_ Black-hair muttered the last four words to himself. I cocked my head at this. _What's fine?_ "Is that so…?" He returned to his calm, bittersweet prattle again, and smiled, much more composed than he had been moments before.

"Sorry!" He apologized, but didn't seem to mean it. I almost couldn't believe it, but it sounded like _he _was _forgiving _me for something that _I_ did wrong. It took all the self-control that I knew to stop myself from experiencing what would happen if I stuck out my tongue at him. Stuck-up, gay control-freak, I thought irritably. I was almost too angry to be surprised at my immediate crossness. _I can't believe I already hate this guy_, my face contorting, _and I don't even know his name!_

Akito circled from me to the other two, who looked like they were trying not to cringe. "I must return to Shigure and the others as well… or else they'd worry about me." Purple-eyes returned to his petrified state as Black-hair glanced at him. "Yuki…" he smiled even more, and I couldn't help myself from comparing Black-hair to an animal, its bared fangs being the last thing that their prey would see before dying. "Enjoy your high school life!"

After the dramatic farewell, there was a long, awkward pause between the two strangers and I. "Well…" Kawaii-girl's warm chocolate eyes looked up at me as she bowed. "Thank you… um, erm…"

"Erm, Ruka."

"Ruka-san, then."

She bowed once more to me.

"Thank you for saving us from Akito-san, Ruka-san. I'm Tohru Honda, and this is Yuki Sohma."

I bowed to both people, catching the bowing bug from Tohru. "It's a pleasure to meet you two. What's up with Akito? Is he one of your boyfriends or something?"

I added, sneaking a glance at Yuki.

"Oh, no, um… he's –" Tohru stuttered, and Yuki came up behind Tohru and put his hand on her shoulder. "He's the head of my family. He has problems."

"Ah." I nodded, as if I had a head of my family, too. Was it just me, or was Yuki a little overprotective of Tohru? I had sharp eyes, but mentally batted away my curiosity from the two quickly.

Tohru cocked her head at me. "Um, Ruka-san, are you a teacher here?"

Yuki's eyes followed Ruka's every movement with intense curiosity as her face turned a very deep shade of red. His head was still a little cloudy from the shock of seeing Akito again, and from all of the dreadful memories he brought along with them, but this new person was very interesting.

The way her eyes managed to sparkle behind those black frames, the way her bedhead hair managed to be graceful and outlandish at the same time, how her hand was still unconsciously trying to lower her skirt… all was very fascinating…but that didn't mean that he was in love with her. Heaven forbid, the only girl he would ever love would probably be Tohru… right?

"I'm not a teacher." The girl said sharply.

Yuki's ears winced at her voice, so musical but so sharp at the same time.

She indicated her attire to Tohru. "As you can see, I'm wearing the school uniform… something I don't think that the teachers here are required to wear." Yuki tensed, sensing her sudden change in attitude. Her shocking green eyes were also cold, almost like Akito's, but with a somewhat faint light behind them… which meant that she could be dangerous if she wanted to.

Tohru examined her with wide, curiously childish eyes. She didn't notice Ruka's threatening demeanor at all. "Oh, I see. Sorry, sorry!" She bowed again. "Welcome, Ruka-san."

To Yuki's surprise, Ruka's atmosphere changed again, like some kind of hurricane, now looking harried and embarrassed, with only a hint of annoyance now. "Er… it's okay…" Ruka ran a hand through her hair. "You don't have to bow to me or anything, it's okay… I'm actually much older than I look." Ruka added, managing to be proud and even more annoyed at the same time. "I'm fourteen years old, and I'm in the second year."

Yuki and Tohru looked at each other in surprise. She was about a year or two younger than them, but in the same grade. She was also, apparently, smart. What else did this newcomer have up her sleeve?

She blushed red, pulling at her bag straps a little. "And I'm also kind of lost. D'you know where Class 1-D could be?" Yuki's eyes grew wide.

"Hm? 1-D? Oh, I know that class!" Tohru smiled, glad to be of help, and explained the directions.

"Thank you," Ruka bowed to Tohru and Yuki again, and walked away from them. But before walking into the school, she paused. "Tohru?" Tohru, dazed, somehow managed to respond immediately. "Yes?" "You have a very kind heart. I hope we will be friends soon."

Ruka paused at Yuki, cocking her head, trying to think of something, but shook her head, waved, and vanished.

After a few seconds of stunned blinking, Tohru turned to notice Yuki's dazed expression. "What's wrong, Yuki?"

Yuki turned to Tohru.

"Tohru, _we_ are in Class 1-D."

**Now how's THAT for a super-awesome comeback? *^_0***

**Please RR&R! (no flames, please!)**


	4. Those Unruly Rays of Sunlight

**Hai, everyone! As you know, I'm no longer lolchic, I am now called: BEAUTIFUL PRINCE! MUHAHAHA! I just liked the ring of it… seriously, I'm a girl, I'm a girl… (Oh what Shigure wouldn't say right now…) I like princes, so I'm a girl in disguise now, I guess. Anyways, I'm back, with the fourth chapter of the **_**true**_** adventures of Furuba (another name for Fruits Baskets for all you newbies out there). Please don't be mad with me! I will try to stop dividing moments like this in the future, but I'm notorious for being wordy (sorry, guys and gals!), so please be patient.**

**P.S. Fruits Basket isn't any of my beeswax (in other words, I don't own it or anything, it's not mine, etc…), but Ruka is, so… yeah. But I still love Yuki-kun the most! **

**Oh! And don't forget… **

**THE THANKS LIST!**

**Okey-dokey, I've gotten not one, not two, but THREE awesome new reviews from:**

**ReiTaicho**

**I also got a review from , whose words are just as warming as Rei's (you wanna see, click 'reviews,' people)**

**It's hard to explain the gratitude that I feel for all the wonderful reviews that you guys have given me in words, so I'll say it again; **

**THANKS SO MUCH! **

**(Like I promised, I have a new chapter on hand here, so enjoy!)**

**XD**

**~~~~AND SO… CHAPTER 4 BEGINS…~~~~**

I walked back inside the building, feeling somewhat calm as I passed by door by identical sliding door. I flipped the recent morning over in my hands. Anger flared a little as I recalled the last part. Ooooo, I hate it when people assume my age like that! When Tohru asked me if I was a teacher… I couldn't help but get mad. Everyone else at home was like that, coming up to me and asking if I graduated middle school (I was in fifth grade), when I was graduating from high school (*sigh*, middle school…) and now I'm being mistaken for a teacher! My personal record was broken, huh. Just thinking of home made me smash my fist into the wall, so, instead, I started walking faster.

And what was that? 'You have a very kind heart, I hope we will be friends soon.' What was I, Obi Wan Kenobi? I feel like a fool. But she would be nice to be friends with, I guess. I've never had friends before.

One of the doors were open a crack, and I connected eyes with two boys as I hurried to class. (I didn't get much detail, but a rosy-cheeked one was definitely dressed in a girls' uniform, and the other had – get this – white hair and large, soulful eyes. It was almost creepy. Well, not as creepy as that head-of-the-family dark-haired dude. He was creepy beyond words.) I thought about the dilemma I faced when I found Tohru and Yuki-boy (he was physically attractive enough to be a girl). Head of a family? Whatever _that_ meant. I liked Tohru, definitely, but the awkward-to-almost-scary situation was kind of making me freak out. And what was with that Yuki kid? Though he barely reached my height, I almost mistook him for a girl (I'm sorry to say that the boy's uniform was about one of the only beacons that helped me to realize this)… and he had some kind of psychological trauma because of Akimo or Akito or whatever that weird black-haired dude was. But he was… interesting…

I found the class that I was looking for and sighed. My stay in Japan certainly is going to be a bizarre experience. I wonder if that "recent event" (protecting two people from something/someone I don't even know) was a bad omen…

~~#~~

Though it was the beginning of another *cough* wonderful school year, the whole building was buzzing with news of a certain new student before the teacher even announced it. Despite all of the new years coming, no one could shut up about the new person in the sophomore year. Hanajima and Uotani watched as the Yuki-club fangirls started whispering about strategies to lure the student into their club, or how they would react if something… unfortunate… would happen instead (that is, if the new student, rumored to be a girl, decided to pull a "Tohru", turn witch, and try to snatch their precious Yuki away from them). Uo was keeping an eye out for Tohru, who was several minutes late (but for some reason, the teacher wasn't there, either, so she guessed that Tohru was okay if the teacher came after she did). What Uo didn't know was that Hanajima was meticulously studying the waves of the students around them… especially Ruka's.

Arisa Uotani tossed her golden hair a little as she made a quick search under the classrooms' desks for Tohru. She didn't know why; but Tohru could be a strange girl sometimes, and could be looking at some ladybug underneath her chair or something weird and, she had to admit, completely adorable. Apparently not, she decided. She turned to Saki Hanajima, who was ominously painting her nails a darker (no one knew if it was possible until then) shade of black. "Tohru's not here." Saki nodded, blowing on her nails a little as she looked up at her with those curiously blank black eyes of hers. "She-" She was rudely interrupted by the sound of stomping feet towards her desk – not to mention a gaggle of annoyingly fearful and brash-feeling waves. The Yuki Fan Club stood in front of her desk. "WHERE'S THE PRINCE!" The leading girl screeched at her, sending spit as she talked. Hanajima didn't need calming; she'd had far worse situations than this. Uo looked over the girls and continued conversation with Hana. "Oh, I forgot to mention that to you, huh? The Prince isn't here either." The gaggle of girls bristled in hostility like a pack of cats after discovering that someone dressed them in mocking tutus after an overdose of catnip. The leading girl spoke up again, her courage wavering a little as Hana blinked up at her. "We know that you are scheming to set up Yuki with the wit- I mean, Tohru Honda, but we shall not permit it! Remember that Yuki is _all of ours_, not just hers! Where are they hiding?" Uo and Hana looked at each other, and Uo rolled her eyes. "So, Hana, should we give them a physical, or a mental?" Uo pulled out her faithful bloodstained pipe and rolled it in her fingers with lavish. "Depends." Hanajima shrugged. "At what rate should I send the _electric poison rays_?" The YFC (Yuki Fan Club) paled like ghosts and scattered at the sound of the girls' casual threats.

Hanajima looked over at Uo again, undeterred by the small distraction. "Tohru seems fine. Her waves seem stunned, though, as if she's…" Hanajima trailed away, and Uo faced her. "What? What's with Tohru?" Saki shook her head. "Like I said, Tohru's okay, a little stunned, but there's nothing wrong. I'm just a little… distracted from this morning." She looked down at her lap instead of Arisa's eyes. "I saw an older woman this morning, and her waves are quite… different." She looked up at the ceiling again. "Perhaps it was because she was wearing our school clothes. Or her hair…? She didn't act like a teacher, but did not seem to be old, either." Uo laughed as resolution came to her eyes. "Hana, I think that you've met the new student!" But her face turned serious. "She might have skipped a few years. Rumor has it she's an American of sorts, maybe she's like me. We could be pals, freakin' cool, dangit!" She grew excited and threw her pipe across the room. Hanajima shook her head. The girl didn't seem like the gangster type.

Their heads turned at the sound of a crisp, clear knock that seemed to reverberate through the classroom's clamor. They stood near their seats, thinking the teacher could have come in, only to find that, to their surprise, a beautiful tall girl with shaggy hair and captivating green eyes that shone out through elegant black frames. They watched in curiosity as she looked out at the classroom, blushing a little from embarrassment. "Good morning, everyone." She spoke in a quiet but musical voice. Her smile was quiet but shy, with and without confident of what she was doing.

I looked out at my new classroom. So many faces, what should I do? I thought. I heard them quite clearly before, talking in nonchalant voices that echoed down the hall before I could see the class itself. It was strange to see them all quiet, staring at me as if through a microscope, silent as night's shadow. I strode towards the windows, my shoes making a _tup-tup_ sort of sound. In America, my shoes more of a clacking noise. Was I changing already, or did I need to buy some new footwear?

The windows were wonderfully refreshing from the heat made from the many bodies in the room – I was quite sensitive to heat, wherever it came from. Sitting alongside the windows were two girls definitely older than me; one with blonde hair and a fierce but timid attitude, like a wild dog in obedience school, the other the – the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. The dark girl that I saw in front of the school this morning. Like the other students, both girls were staring at me as well, but with less intensity, like I was a new student. Wait a moment, I _am _a new student. Close by was a weird-looking guy with orange hair, inspecting me like I was something picked off from the sole of his shoe. I figured that he must be related to that Yuki boy or that white-haired dude I saw in the hall-way… or is unnatural hair turning into a fad here, too?

The blonde beckoned to me. "Hey! New girl! If you're thinking that you're sitting alone, I hate that. Come and sit with us over here." Her voice was rough, but surprisingly refreshing like a hard rock singer. My feet automatically jerked my torso from the sill of the window, and I walked over to the weird gang girl and tried to ignore the laser-beaming eyes burning into my back. I found myself in front of the desk with my bag still in my hand, and the blonde was opening her mouth to speak when – A horde of girls swarmed around me and blocked out my view from the classroom until I felt that I was drowning in them. Was I being attacked by a gang? Ice formed inside me with fear. I didn't want to get in fights anymore! They didn't have anything in common, like hair color or height, but somewhere in my gut I sensed that they all shared something that I couldn't see in physical appearance, something like…

"Come join the Prince Yuki fanclub!" They shrieked simultaneously, suddenly holding up conjured banners and pin-buttons. Stereotypes. Oh, yes, the attack of the love-crazed Mary Sues. God save me. I jumped, the bag that I was holding in front of my face dropping out of my hands. "Eh? Yuki?" They looked at me with wide eyes. "_You don't know the Prince!_" They shrieked again. I observed their banners; most of them had sloppy handwriting and even worse illustrations. I finally spotted one that I could understand; a badly-drawn picture of a stick figure with purple eyes. Purple eyes… "Oh, _that_ Yuki!" I gestured at the poster. They gaped at me. One of the girls in the back sneered at me. "Are you stupid? There is only ONE Prince Yuki Fan Club in the entire school! What other Yuki would be as valuable to us as Sohma Yuki!" All the girls suddenly got sparkles in their eyes, their cheeks flushing as they sighed into bliss. I grew even more alarmed; Mary Sues gone love mode, Mary Sues gone love mode! I wanted to scream and run away. "More than half of the girls in the school are a part of this club!" They crooned as they pictured Yuki-boy in a prince's costume. "Our job is to protect Yuki throughout his high school life, and to rid any disturbances or evil that mean to purge his innocence and beauty!" Suddenly, the group of them turned deadly, with posters of… kawaii-gir- I mean… Tohru? "Like that awful Tohru! Join us, and we shall fight for the justice of this heavenly angel on Earth!" Any childish anger towards Tohru suddenly vanished into thin air, and I suddenly felt horrible for my temporary tantrum. How could I resent such a defenseless, adorable girl like her over such a small, questionable matter? Even I thought that I looked old. It was then that I decided to stay with her and protect her as much as I could. Especially from these girls.

These girls were a problem, not to mention seriously loony. I played it cool, however; I've seen worse, and I didn't really want to satisfy their crazed states. "There is no way that I'll join your club and become a bunch of lifeless, love-infatuated zombies like you." I spoke every word slowly and clearly. They all dropped their jaws, and I could hear someone in the classroom start laughing like crazy. I tried to shove them out of my way now, but, suddenly, the YFC was staring me down with malice. "You can't talk to us like that, or about Yuki!" A short girl with tacky hairclips growled. I was trying to plan how to jump out of the window without coming into contact with the club or any of those sharp-looking banner corners, when I felt a sharp crack in the air, not unlike the sound of a very powerful whip, and the fan girls parted to reveal an entry to the rest of the classroom. The dark girl was looking at the fan club with no emotions and many emotions; though her face revealed nothing, a sharp, evil brew was shooting out of her eyes. The girls screeched and shuddered simultaneously like it was a reflex and ran into a corner.

The blonde waved at me, still laughing like crazy. I didn't bother to hesitate as I grabbed my stuff and sat towards them. I was still a little scared of the dark girl. I sat in a seat just behind the two girls, rather than inside the desk between them, seeing that someone was obviously supposed to sit there by the pencils and schoolbag on it. I got a closer look at the girls. Blondey looked and acted like a gangster, but she probably had a heart of gold. The dark girl had her black hair tied up into a long braid at the back of her head, and her nails were a shiny black color. Goth, maybe? As incredibly weird and as hard as it was to believe, she seemed like the motherly type, the kind that handles her cherished ones delicately. But there seemed to be a looming, aloof side to her, a look in her eyes as if she had a demon haunting her, and afraid that the demon might hurt someone else, too. I was startled to find that, though everyone was insanely…er… unique, there were many good people. I was surrounded by good people.

The rough girl wiped tears from her eyes, and pointed at herself and her friend. "I'm Arisa Uotani, she's Saki Hanajima. We'd introduce you to Tohru if she was here, but she's not." I nodded, smiling a little at my secret – I already knew her. But I didn't need to share that with the other girls. "Speaking of which…" I jerked my thumb at the YFC girls huddled in the corner. "What do those have to do with her?" How could anyone hate Tohru's adorable face? Arisa sighed. "Ah, they're a little uptight about Tohru being too close to the Prince. She lives at his house, you know." I knew that they meant Yuki. "So they're related." "Not exactly. T'make a long story short, she used to live with her grandpa, her grandpa moved in with her cousins, she got out of the picture and somehow got stuck inside the house with the Prince and Carrot-top over there." She gestured lazily at the orange-haired boy, who stood up at these words. "Quit callin' me Carrot-top, bitch!" Orangey yelled across the room menacingly. Arisa knocked over her desk, her calm mood abruptly swapped to fiery attitude. "I'll call you whatever you want, **Carrot-top**! What, do you wanna make a deal out of it?" "Shut up, Yankee!" Oh, so she _was_ a gangster. They were suddenly swapping insults making faces at each other, and to my surprise, everyone went back to their normal rambling.

I turned to Saki. "Hey, Hana-chan, do they always fight?" She nodded, pulling out a cute kawaii-onigiri and nibbling delicately at the ends. "She likes fighting, and he has a short temper. It never gets old for them, I guess." She shrugged. I pulled out my pencil and notebook and started doodling on the paper. "Does this mean that we're all friends now?" I asked casually, anticipation rousing. "… for Uotani-chan, yes. I suppose it was because you dissed those Yuki fangirls. As for me…" She scanned me. "I find your waves fascinating, and I also found your dramatic entrance rather funny, so… I suppose we're friends." She said, smiling a little. "Waves?" Hana looked down. So this was the demon biting her butt. "I can feel waves; they're like electronic signals, but I can feel other's feelings, thoughts almost, but not quite." She looked at me, like she expected me to run away in any second. I grinned, much to her surprise. "Wow…" I whispered to myself. Personally, I wouldn't care if she had eleven toes and fangs. Well, maybe. I was just so happy to have friends. She looked at me, neatly swallowing the rest of the onigiri. "You have never had friends before, have you?" She asked opaquely. I smiled. "Nope!"

Yuki and Tohru came in soon after. The YFC all assumed positions and bowed to him, and he seemed to twitch a little as he got to his seat, a little ways behind me and _very_ far away from orange-dude. Tohru blushed when she saw me, surprised and a little dense as she did her little kawaii-walking thing towards us. "So Souma-kun was right! You are in my class! This is so very wonderful!" She bursted in between little gasps. What else did Yuki know? I couldn't wonder in front of them. "Er… thank you?" Arisa Uotani squinted at me, and suddenly stole my glasses from my face. Before I could retort, she commented; "Y'know, you look like someone I know, who is it, who is it?" She snapped her fingers like she could conjure the lost thought on air. I guess it worked. "Oh! That's right! You look like Joan Jett!" "Oh, yes, Joan Jett!" Tohru eagerly nodded at me. "Yes, Joan Jett…" Saki Hanajima mused. I laughed. "You guys are weird!" I giggled, taking back my glasses from Uo. They all smiled at me. "We get that a lot." They simultaneously said, then looked at each other and giggled, like they shared a little secret. "What? Where's the punch line?" I asked, settling in their world.

After that, the day was all Tohru, Hana, and Uo. Time whipped past at the speed of an ocean wind. I didn't even notice what subjects I had taken by the end of the day, the end of the best day of my life. I was, however, introduced to the rest of the family along with Hana and Uo. The orange-haired dude was named Kyo, with a hot temper but a somewhat caring core; the two strange boys that I saw in the hallway earlier were also a sort of kin to Tohru… the one wearing a girl's uniform was named Momiji, and the guy with white hair was Hatsu-Haru (I wanted to ask where his awesome jewelry, but I didn't get the time). When the last bell rang, Tohru gasped and held a delicate hand to her lips. "Oh, dear! How rude of me! Hi-chan!" For being an official part of the circle or whatever, I've been given an official nickname; according to everyone here, Tohru-chan's deceased mom would give nicknames by some part of our last names. Since my surname is Himura, I'm Hi-chan to everyone else. "Hi" means "scarlet" in Japanese, so I kind of like it. Back to the conversation.

Tohru blinked her large kawaii eyes at me. "Uo-chan, Hana-chan, Souma-kun, Kyo-kun, Momiji-kun –" "Slow down, Tohru, I get what you're talking about. What about you guys?" Tohru smiled a little nervously. "Well, we were going to go and play badminton after school, would you like to come?" She asked, her eyes expectant and bright. If she were any other girl, I would have pretended to gag and stick my tongue out, but I knew that she was sincere and caring, so I felt heartbroken instead. "I'm sorry, Tohru-chan, but I've got to work on something today. You guys go on without me!" I added, waving my hand and trying to make an encouraging expression. Uo squinted at me. "On the first day of school, though? C'mon, have some fun!" At the same time, Hana's eyes seemed to narrow.

But Tohru's seemed to swell. "Are you sure?" I nodded, but smiled. "I have to take care of things. You guys go and have fun, I know you will!" I wanted to ruffle Tohru's hair, but I didn't know if it was an appropriate thing to do. Tohru smiled. "Yes, I will do my best to have fun!" She laughed, and ran off to Uo-chan and Hana-chan, sunlight pouring down on their happy-go-lucky faces. What did I do to deserve these people? It did not seem right to be with such kind friends. _But it is of no matter now,_ I decided as I trudged off to the other fork of the school entrance.

My own eyes squinted against the beating sun, and I raised a hand to shelter them from the ruthless light. Yes… I have my own problems to work out now.

**I think that the whole "I pledge myself to protect Tohru" thing is kind of corny, but it worked in the book, right? Oh, if she only knew what she was getting into… *awesome foreshadowing going on here, haha you can't see!* Ruka's fate is now officially entwined, so don't look now, but I think a little action is headed our way! Hope all you guys forgive me and whatever… I'll check in soon now that school-phobia is building again!**


	5. Yuki Didn't Plant THAT In His Garden!

**Hey, guys! I'm back with my super-awesome, über-cool accounts of the legendary Ruka Himura (I think I really like that name, so cool!) Okay… I know that this is a little soon for me, but, like I said last time, school-phobia's setting in! So, because I'm edgy and impatient, no one got the chance to be on this chapter's THANKS LIST. So sad…**

**I'm just going to talk a little about; memory sticks. I have this whole story on a memory stick, and I loose it all the time, it drives me crazy! And then I find it and I think, oh my gosh, thank goodness, I'm going to write to my fans now. Speaking of fans… did you know that in this month, about 209 people have already read a part of my story! I get so happy thinking about it. I remember when I published the first chapter of this story, some dude from Brazil visited the site, and I was shocked. That's the great thing about the internet, people from Romania and Singapore can even read my stuff, and I get all excited just thinking about it! Okay, back to the story, now, thanks for waiting! ;)**

**Ahjusshi means "uncle" in Japanese, according to some dude on yahoo. Ruka refers to Mr. Long as "uncle" because they're closeness via Maw Maw.**

**Fruits Basket isn't mine, that's why I'm writing on Fanfiction – my story is only **_**based**_** on the book, silly! This story is also unrelated to any real people named Ruka Himura. Or Mr. Long.**

**Oh! And if you people don't like death, then don't read past this point. (Well, if you're reading Furuba, then you should be well-accustomed to deaths and tragedy, but anyway… what? It's a tragic story!)**

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I walked down the lone streets of a smaller part of town, where the highway broke off into small veins of concrete and large apartment buildings squeezed into smaller complexes. A couple of guys my age, dropouts most likely, were leaning against one building talking in low voices to each other. It wasn't until I saw one stagger up to the other and raise his voice that I realized that they were drunk. I fled to my own apartment building.

Well… it wasn't exactly "my" apartment building… it was Oba-san's, or, to be more precise, "Maw-Maw's" apartment. Maw Maw is an old lady that I have lived with for the past month or so – she is very kind and owned the entire apartment building. She let me live in her apartment with her when I came on her doorstep, the matter of fact. "Maw Maw! I'm home!" I yelled as I dropped my bag to the floor and wiped my feet. She didn't let me in without a small price, though. I had to clean for her; I tried cooking, but you don't even _want _to know how that simple-looking plate of ramen turned out. Stupid TV chef and all of his "easy-easy" reassurances. Maw Maw didn't reply to any of my calls, and I decided that she was having a nap, half out of laziness and half out of respect – she has been having an awful amount of naps lately, and I knew how it was like to be bugged out of a well-deserved rest.

I trudged through the kitchen and flopped down in the living room – I could do my homework later. This last week was stressful, and I could use all of the relaxing and rest that I can get. Grabbing the remote, I flipped through the channels – all flashy, exciting Japanese commercials with funny voices and colors brighter than the neon lights of Tokyo. Wait, there was one channel – nah, that's a kid's channel. I escaped the strange dancing puppets on the screen and went back to the hallway, to dig through my bag; what I needed some nice, clean English for a change. The only book that I managed to grab during my Great Escape from Home was a volume of Old Shakespeare Classics, but I willingly indulged myself into it. When I looked up from my book, it was about 5:00, close enough to dinner time for me. "Maw Maw!" I yelled (her hearing wasn't too hot for anyone's age), "could you make dinner please?" I walked around the apartment, looking for her. "Maw Maw?"

The old yellow phone rang its ditzy little tune, and I picked the old 70's antique up by the second ring. "Hello?" "Is this Ms. Ruka-san?" A hoarse voice yelled into the phone. I winced, my ears ringing, and held the ear piece at arm's length. There was only one other person I knew with a bad voice, and that was Mr. Long, Maw Maw's best friend and the only other person in the world that shouted as loud as she.

"Yes, Ahjusshi, it's me, Ruka-san. What's going on?" I shouted into the mouthpiece. Mr. Long got straight to the point, his Chinese accent cutting into his words as he talked. "Ruka-san, Mr. Long was walking with Maw Maw today." "Oh, that's great, Ahjusshi, how'd it go?" I'd been pushing Maw Maw to go on walks with Mr. Long for a while now, and I was eager to hear her say in her singsong voice "Oh, Ruka-san, thank you for telling me to move my butt!" Well, not in those lines, exactly… Mr. Long paused. "Ah, Ms. Ruka-san, would you mind telling you bad news?" "Bad news?" My voice raised an octave. "No, guess not, then. Bye-bye now!" "No, Ahjusshi, just tell me what happened, okay? What happened?" The last words laid heavily on my tongue. "Jeez, so pushy," Mr. Long wined. "Alright, then. Maw Maw's spirit has joined with heaven now." I froze, and Mr. Long seemed to sense my fret over the phone. "Oh, I knew that Ms. Ruka-san would not like these news, I knew it, knew it!" He fretted now. I coaxed my dry throat to let me speak. "How did she die?" My head spun. "Oh, well, we went for walk, and then Maw Maw says to Mr. Long; 'can I have a nap?' and Mr. Long says sure, why not, you're tired, get some rest. Then I go get tea, I come back, and her chi no longer flow." I've read plenty of Chinese books, so I understood Mr. Long (chi is energy that flows through your body; everyone has this bodily energy, so trained specialists can detect someone else by feeling their chi. The main source of all your chi is directly below your navel, and if someone's bodily energy doesn't flow anymore, then they're dead). "Then what happened?" "Well, Mr. Long calls 911 and tells woman-on-phone that Maw Maw dead, people come over and take her away to funeral home. Then Mr. Long also have nap, and remembers to call Ruka-san." He sounded very proud of himself. I sighed, away from the mouthpiece so Mr. Long wouldn't hear me. If I weren't a bookworm, I would never be able to decipher what he was trying to tell me. Though Mr. Long has lived in Japan for sixty years, his Japanese seems to be an almost hopeless grammatical case. "Okay, thank you for telling me, Ahjusshi." "Is Ruka-san going to come over again?" "No, Mr. Long, I won't be coming over again. I was just visiting, remember?" "Yes, yes. Well, Mr. Long has to brush teeth now, bye-bye!"

Everything since then was kind of a blur. I packed as many clothes and Tupper wares of food in a backpack until it was bulging. Cleaned the apartment, gathered my things, and then turn back one more time to look at the apartment. Then I remembered something. "Ruka-san very unlucky girl." Maw Maw had said on my first few days there. "I knew your brother was bad. Don't worry," she patted my shoulder when my face froze at mention of my brother. "When summer comes again, Maw Maw will teach you music." Like Mr. Long, she also referred to herself in the third person. "Maw Maw's parents wanted Maw Maw to learn traditional music, but Maw Maw wanted to be in style, so Maw Maw learned piano." She led me to her closet, where I gasped when I saw a grand old upright piano; the wood wasn't very shiny, and the keys were a little dusty, but I thought that it was beautiful. "Music made Maw Maw happy. Music will make Ruka very happy also. This is your piano now, take good care of it."

From that time on, I haven't had the time to take care of it at all, but I walked back to the closet and opened the door once more. There it was, full of endless possibilities and just waiting to be played. But where could I put it? I don't have any other place to go… well, any place that I knew where I would _want_ to go. Daiki's face suddenly flashed across my eyes and I shuddered, leaning against the wall until I could see the black keys of the piano again. There is no time for horrid flashbacks. Quickly, I fetched a white, king-sized blanket sheet and covered the piano with it. Thanking whoever manufactured the piano for the large, well-oiled wheels on its bottom, I rolled it out of the apartment and down the slopes meant for people in wheelchairs until I got out of the building. The streets were dark save for the neon lights of bars and 24/hour restaurants, and I was scared. The only sections of newspapers that I ever bothered to read were entertainment columns, cartoon sections, and the crime reports, and I've read enough stories about night-time prowlers. It was a good thing that I took Maw Maw's switchblade with me.

It was long, shiny, and very, very sharp. Not to mention easy to flip out. I flipped it in and out in my hand and it sparkled in the neon lights, but quickly put it back in my pocket before anyone thought that I was looking for a fight. I decided that it would be best to find a secluded area away from the city or any bicycle paths near the city. Even away from the stores. So I rolled the piano down street after street until I was rolling down a lone road a little ways away from the city. Forest masked anything left of city lights from view. I looked to my right where the trees broke off to reveal a large complex of little houses. At the back of the rows of houses I could spot a larger building in the back, and I felt a chill run down my spine. All houses were eerily quiet. No, no I have to go farther away, away from this creepy medieval-styled mini-village. I trudged onwards.

The next time I checked my watch (it was 10:00), I could barely see farther than eight feet away. I cursed under my breath. Why didn't I remember to bring a flashlight? Why? I couldn't feel my legs anymore, so I was limping now. Not to mention I probably looked more than a usual mess. I limped until I reached an entrance to a path in the woods. Since there was no more city to worry about, I decided to enter the path. The piano wheeled down without a sound, even with my heavy footing and my even heavier backpack piled on it. When I figured that I was deep enough into the forest, I hiked off the trail, praying that the piano wouldn't get too battered by the sharp branches on the forest floor. I passed by the remains of a large land slide and quickly headed into another direction (I don't want my precious piano squished by another coincidental landslide). I settled into one of the bushiest parts of the forest, quite glad that I changed into jeans and lightweight sneakers before I took off (I hate poison ivy). I parked the piano under the safety of the tree branches and prepared to climb the tree behind it to get some good rest, until I spied a clearing with something like… a small vegetable garden? I jumped out of the tree and headed towards the vegetable garden army-style because now I couldn't _use_ my legs anymore. I stretched out an arm towards some sprouts poking from the ground. Is… that… leek…?

Yuki's POV

I woke up early in the morning at nine o' clock, something unusual for me. Yesterday was… eventful, and I slept like a log after all of that tiring badminton. I still can't believe that Hanajima-san didn't sweat. I sat in the bed for a while until I got out, changed, and came down the stairs. I stretched, trying to focus on not to falling asleep again. _Tup tup tup swish swish swish _ I didn't realize the sound until it was too late. I heard an "oh!" the sound of water splashing, and suddenly, soapy water splashed into my face. Then I felt something touch my chest and I transformed.

Waking out of my half-slumber as a sodden rat, I looked up to see Tohru big-sized, with a large, empty bucket by her feet and her pig-tails dripping. "Y-Yuki-san, are you alright? Did I wake you up? I'm so sorry, I should have looked, I – " "Honda-san, don't worry, I'm fine, just a little damp. Are you okay?" I checked if I had caused any bruises, hurt her any way. Tohru was quick to reply. "Don't worry, I'm okay, I just have to clean up this mess, don't worry!" She sounded like she was talking more to herself than to me. "It's alright, Honda-san." Clouds of pink erupted as I changed and Tohru quickly turned to the wall, blushing. I quickly put my clothes on before the clouds faded and sighed softly. "It's okay, Honda-san." She turned around and smiled at me. "Well, I better clean up this mess now –" "Don't bother!" I interrupted her, suddenly brightening with an idea. "Let Shigure and that cat clean it up. I was wondering…" I paused, unintentionally attracting her attention even more, "if you would like to come to my secret base with me?" Tohru forgot the mess, and her cheeks flushed with excitement. "Oh, yes! I would be honored!"

Tohru's POV

I felt so sorry for dropping the bucket of leftover laundry liquid on Yuki-san, and when I was panicking on how many paper towels I would waste, Yuki-san asked me to come to his secret base with him! I decided to go with him to make up for the spill, but it was hard to leave it in the hallway like that… what if Shigure gets his favorite yellow socks wet on it? What if Kyo is walking down the stairs, then slips in the puddle, then cracks his head on the stairs, and! My eyes were wide with fear, but I didn't want to be so selfish as to stand Yuki-san up! Oh, dear, I'm stuck in the middle again. Yuki-san interrupted my thoughts. "We're here, Honda-san." He seemed to whisper softly. I stepped behind him and watched his beautiful grey hair swirl as – Yuki-san stopped in his tracks. "Yuki-san?" I asked. He didn't reply, and I looked around him.v"What's wrong Yuki-sa- oh!"

Sprawled out on the grass was Hi-chan, the new second-year in my class as well as my new best friend. Even though her hair was short, it seemed to pool around her head; her slim glasses were askew, and her head was rested on one of her arms. All of her clothes were grass-stained and dirty, but she still managed to look pretty. "Oh!" I repeated again. Yuki walked to Hi-chan almost hesitatingly. "Is this – " "Hi-chan!" I cried, rushing to her side. I fell on my knees in front of her and felt her head. "She has no fever." I commented. Yuki commented; "but she looks tired. Her clothes are quite dirty, like she's hiked several miles." "Oh, no! Do you think that she's running away?" We scanned the area around her, and Yuki checked the bushes behind her. "There are no provisions around her. I wonder what happened – ?" I touched the scratches on her face, lined with bark. "She's hurt!" I panicked, she needs help, if she doesn't get help then her wounds would get infected and – if infected fingers must be cut off, then what do you do when facial wounds are infected, too? I must help Hi-chan! "Hi-chan! Wake up Hi-chan! Hi-chan!" I begged. Hi-chan was a deep sleeper, and I didn't think that this would help her situation.

"Yuki-san, can you – " Yuki looked at me sadly – no, he couldn't carry her back to the Shigure-san's house, or he'll transform… and that wouldn't help Hi-chan. I bit my lip and tried to think of something rapidly, but Yuki-san seemed to have a plan. "You hold her head, and I'll hold her feet, okay?" I nodded quickly, grasped her by holding up her shoulders, and gasped. Hi-chan weighed very light, like she's been on a diet for a week. Yuki-san noticed this too, by the alarm on his face, but didn't say anything. We waddled back down to the path in a weird sort of way, so that it would be funny if Hi-chan's life wasn't at stake! Yuki mused. "I wonder why she was reaching for the leek… was she planning to steal from my base?" "Ah- ha ha ha!" I laughed a little, wobbling Hi-chan and making Yuki-san's grip weaken so that he had to grunt and pull her back up in his arms. "I don't think that Kyo-kun will like Hi-chan!"

**Hoped you guys liked this one! It was kind of hard writing things through Tohru's eyes at first, though… but it was surprising that I could adapt so quickly to her pure mind! Anyway, RR&R, pleasies!**


	6. Already Crossed The Point of No Return

**Hai, I'm BACK! I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while… school is CRAZY! But no talk, I'm not gonna talk – review and tell me if I should talk more or not! And so, the suspense builds as Ruka's mysterious past catches up with her, and as she herself unconsciously catches up with Yuki and the Furaba gang. Go "Ruki!"**

**Special thanks to: **

**alice152**

**Lone Wolf**

**Value My Heart**

***hands them brownies (or candies if they don't like brownies)* I love all of the wonderful feedback that all you guys give me, it's even better than brownies! (well, maybe not fudge)**

**Oh, and Lone Wolf? I was really sad to take out interviews in the first place, but they were kind of distracting from the story, and I think that a lot of other people would agree with me. *tear* If there were some way that I could do the interviews again, I'll probably add them to the end of the story.**

**I don't own Fruits Basket despite the fact I love it like crazy. *sobs* **

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Hatori's POV

"She appears to be all right." Hatori Sohma tucked his stethoscope back inside the folds of his lab coat. He turned to his audience; an amused Shigure, a slightly less amused Kyo, curious Yuki, and a frantic/anxious Tohru. "But she seems to be overexerted. A lot of her muscles are pulled and she has several bruises, so you'll have to keep her warm, perhaps in a bath or near the futon." Shigure's eyes started to sparkle with fantasies as Hatori said these words, and Hatori quickly (but always oh, so calmly) added; "Tohru, you'll take care of her, won't you?" Tohru stiffened and nodded seriously, like a soldier reporting for duty. "Yes, I'll take good care of her!" Hatori's eyes seemed to smile as he walked outside and back to his car. "Goodbye." "Yes, goodbye!" Hatori glanced at his rearview mirror and saw Tohru waving at his car, and then hurrying back into the house.

Hatori allowed himself to really smile as he turned out of the street. Tohru was a good kid, about the only pure person left in the world, and he adored her (in a sort of weird fatherly way) for her honesty and good intentions. But… Hatori's forehead creased as he withdrew a cigarette from his pocket and lit it at a stop-light… who was the girl he just examined? Hatori took a long drag from his cigarette and puffed smoke from the corner of his mouth, away from the windshield. From the other Sohmas' attitudes (much more guarded than usual), she had not found out about their… secret. But would she? Hatori's face drained of color and he hurriedly took another puff of smoke. Oh, dear; something big was about to happen. Again.

Ruka's POV

I couldn't recall when I fell asleep, but definitely woke up. Man, was I sore. Even my fingers were sore. I struggled to sit up, but my abdominal muscles were on fire. I gasped and fell back, moaning in pain. I gasped, wanting to clutch my sides and writhe in my bed. Wait, bed? I'm apparently tucked inside a western-style bed. I panicked. I must be in a hospital. I've been found in the forest, and now, I'm recorded in the hospital books and I'll be found again! Or… what if I'm back home? I shuddered. That was even worse! I realized that I wasn't breathing and gasped in breaths. But there were no IV's, no white, cold atmosphere… the bed covers even had a pink cherry blossom pattern on them! My curiosity got the better of me, and I let my analytical side tell me where I was.

I drank in as much as I could see by twisting my neck – fortunately it was the only part of my body that wasn't completely pulled or strained. The last time I was conscious, I was face-first in the grimy reality of dirt and grass reaching out for some vegetable in someone's garden. My eyes bulged at the memory. Who knew that I would've sunk that low? I wanted to operate the classic "facepalm of epiphany," but my arms were too stiff to respond to my mind.

I breathed in deeply, and almost strained another muscle. I gnashed my teeth, a hissing sound escaping my lips as I balled up my hands in frutstration.

I couldn't see much without my glasses – well, not like I can't see much without them, it's just that everything gets blurrier from about three feet away. But even from my limited eyesight, I could easily tell a girl's bedroom when I was in one. There was one window on my left side, and a nightstand on my right. The nightstand had a plain white vase on it, and beautiful wild flowers seemed to pour out of the neck. Next to the flowers was a picture of a spunky-looking woman with short hair raising her hand to the camera to make a "v" peace sign with her middle and index finger. Who was she? My glasses were perched in front of the picture, and I quickly snatched them, wiping them on the bed sheets fast enough to outrace the stinging sensation, and then put them on to get a better view.

But my fingertips brushed my forehead. It was damp and sticky with sweat…and so was the moment that I realized that I was sweating my own coat of moisture. Ew, gross! Was I still wearing my jeans? I looked under the covers and squeaked. What was I wearing? It was some kind of kimono, but it didn't look like the ones that I've seen before. A peasant-style kimono, maybe? The fabric was thick and heavy, thus explaining my excessive sweating. Carefully, I gathered the cover in my hand and flicked them so that I gradually pulled down the sheets to my legs. My toes did the rest of the job.

I relaxed on the bed, cooling down a little and laying my hands across my chest like a mummy. Ah… so much better. I was sighing in bliss when I heard a sliding sound. Eh, sliding sound? Oh, right, I'm in Japan. Baka! I wanted to laugh at myself like I saw someone else do in one of the earlier Japanese shows I saw in America.

Then I remembered that someone entered the room. I turned my head to the left to face the person that I would have never expected.

"Tohru?" I winced as my muscles involuntarily contracted to sit up (failing of course). "What're you doing here?" I yelped anxiously in English. I caught myself quickly; this wasn't America. "Tohru-chan, sorry," I muttered in Japanese, scolding to myself. But Tohru didn't notice. She was concentrating too hard on holding the weight of an enormous miso soup as she tried to run to me. "T-Tohru, w-w-watch yourself!" I raised my arm and winced. "Oh, Hi-chan, are you alright?" She squeaked worriedly. "No, I'm fine, Tohru-chan, but…" I frowned at her and tried to make sense. I recalled the last time I was conscious; making the foolish decision to lug an upright piano into the forest, even getting to the humiliating point of dragging myself across the ground. I looked at my hands. They weren't soiled and covered in earth anymore, just a little bit of dirt under my nails. I was cleaned?

Tohru started to worry when she saw the confused look on my face. "Oh, please don't be angry at me!" She fretted, nearly spilling the soup. What on earth was she thinking, carrying something so huge? Was that really for me? "No, no, it's not that, Tohru, I'm confused. How did I get here again?" "Oh, I'm sorry!" I prayed that she wouldn't bow as she apologized. "Yuki-kun and I found you at his secret base and –" "Secret base what?" I interrupted, caught off track. Was I intruding on some kind of James Bond scene? Dang, I hope I won't get tortured. Tohru gasped with worry and I could see two sides of her consciousness battling on her face. "Oh, no! I promised Yuki that I wouldn't tell –" She was cut off by someone else's voice. "Don't worry about it, Honda-san."

Speak of the dazzling, purple-eyed devil. Yuki Sohma himself walked from the doorway towards us, stopping only a few feet away when he spoke again. "We found you near my vegetable garden unconscious and hurt, so we brought you to our house to recover." His eyes were faintly curious. Tohru somehow managed to set the soup on the nightstand table, for her hands were wringing out a cold cloth and placing it on my head. Then she pulled up the covers again. I would have growled at anyone else if they did that to me, I don't want to labor through pulling it off again. Tohru's eyes grew round as she spoke. "What happened, Hi-chan?"

There was a long, uncomfortable pause. I didn't know what to say, or how to lie to Tohru-chan. It was near impossible to do so with the innocent girl and the… very observant boy staring at me. So I had to use part of the truth to lie. I looked at them steadily and said; "my last guardian has died. Since I had no other place to stay, I was planning to move into the forest."

Tohru gasped while Yuki's motionless purple eyes seemed to bore into my soul. "I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" My kawaii classmate worried. I think Tohru needs to take up a hobby – she seems to be a little uptight.

Yuki's POV

This is not good. This is not good. Himura-san in this house – it was like force-feeding another Honda-san situation all over again. What if she find out about the Curse? It didn't take long for Honda-san to find out our Secret, and Himura-san is much more calculative than her, or nearly anyone else I know. Shigure, and Akito being exceptions, of course. I tensed, my hand involuntarily reaching for my heart.

"So this is your house?" Himura-san was hasty to change the subject, and it worked on Honda-san. She was caught off guard, and blushed. "No, no, not mine, it's Shigure's." "Shigure's?" Himura repeated the name slowly. The closed door seemed to vibrate and I heard a grown voice yell over the wood. "Can I come in?" "Speak of the devil," I muttered to myself.

~~#~~

Ruka's POV

At the entrance of the room stood a tall man with dark hair and a nonchalant look about his face. He was wearing a kimono like mine, except this one looked more like a housecoat. Gross. He seemed to lean against the doorway without a care in the world, looking like one of those lazy old me you see walking around the streets here with fans in their hands, shamelessly flirting with women as they passed by. Well, at least he didn't have a fan. But at that very moment, the man pulled out a fan and started cooling himself with it. Unbelievable.

"Oh, yes!" Tohru nodded at him. Guessing from Yuki's muttering, this was Shigure. She caught eye of the soup that she rested on the nightstand. "Oh, no! Excuse me, I'll be right back!" she said to me, rushing out the door with the bento. She ran out into the hallway and almost directly into someone else, two "ah!" resounding in the odd one-floor house. "Watch where you're going, stupid!" The other person chided; behind the old-man impersonator, I could suddenly see someone with a smudge of orange hair looking down at Tohru.

His head lifted to reveal that it was really Kyo with his usual scowl - wait, what was he doing here? Oh, right, Tohru lived with him, too. She and Yuki and Kyo and Shigure. Kyo glanced at my room and bristled when he saw me. "Hey, what's SHE doing here?" He screeched. He clomped over to the room like a bull in a china shop and tripped over an uneven plank of wood, yelling "YAAAAHHH!" He most certainly has that foolish charm that nearly every girl falls for. Yuki looked at the ground and muttered to himself "stupid cat." Kyo was up on his feet in an instant and made some kind of karate pose. "What's that ya called me, ya dumb rat?" He growled. Boy, was he high strung. And what was with the "cat" and "rat" thing? Yuki sighed. "You could have at _least _paid attention when we mentioned that we brought a girl into the house?" He said more boldly. "Boys, boys, there's no need to show off in front of a lady!" The man interrupted, shaking his finger at the both of them with a stupid "silly-silly, you're acting immature, unlike me!" expression on his face. Both boys flared at his interruption and ruthlessly whacked him on the head. I was speechless.

The quarreling broke up when Tohru _tup-tupped_ back into the room with the steaming-hot bento in her arms. "Ah, Honda-san –" Yuki started to say, but Tohru rushed to my bedside and gave me her full attention. "Open up!" She cheered. I opened my mouth to speak, but she tipped some soup inside at the same time, forcing me to make a "ah-glak!" sound as I choked on the piping-hot brew. I coughed at the sheer, horrible heat of it burning down my throat. "Hi-chan, are you alright?" I nodded, trying to will the soup into cooling down.

Yuki turned toward Shigure and Kyo. "What are you two idiots doing here?" Kyo snarled; "I was-" But kimono dude put his hands on his hips and declared loudly; "I wanted to go see the cute college girl!" "I'M NOT A COLLEGE GIRL!" I roared, at the same time darkness surrounded Yuki in his fury as he seemed to lean towards kimono man menacingly. The latter appeared to be dumb and smart at the same time; he quickly put up his hands, saying "I kid, I kid!" but always in that silly, half-drunken mood of his. But he was quite suspicious; what gave me the idea that he examining everyone, like everything was his one big experiment. He turned to me, and beyond the fat-fool façade, I could see a sort of glint in his eye. And, apparently, I was a surprise bonus to his fun.

**Hoped you guys liked this one! Adios! ^w^**


	7. We're A Happy, StrangeWeird Family

**Hello my lovely friends and fans across the globe! I'm back, only, oh, maybe a week or two, after I received my ninth review from… EBONY DAGGER! YAY! Hooray for reviewsies! *Gives a big sundae she reserved for other possible reviewers to Ebony Dagger, who staggers under the weight* Okay, I'm in a really good mood for some reason, (who would've guessed, she just took her midterm!) so I almost love you all but I do wish you happy readings as I stay silent and not talk as I usually do! Okay, maybe a little. Oh! I also have a "who's the hottest Furuba dude" poll on my profile, so choose the man, for your choice may affect *gulp* Ruka's happily ever after. I know, right? So tense! No one knows what will happen… RR&R please, and your messages will be treasured in the mind of a hormone-crazy teen forever. And yes, I did edit this again; I kind of just discovered that I published my rough draft here. I hope it's a lot better! Anyways, enjoy!**

**Fruits Basket isn't mine, only Ruka Himura, but I will love Yuki forever! (-;)**

So here's the update. I entered Kainbara High only a day ago. Yesterday, I got a phone call that Maw Maw, my sole wanted guardian passed away from old age. So I decided to move out of the city and into the forest. And collapsed. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in "Tohru's house." Well, what I mean to say is that she lived in the house, but it's not exactly hers. And everything comes to a full circle.

I'm propped up on pillows because I can't sit up on my own (seriously? Try rolling a near-ton piano for five hours straight through bumpy roads and traffic and your muscles wouldn't fell so hot either), and staring at the ceiling. Where is everyone? Well, right when the conversation was getting interesting, I opened my big mouth and asked "hey, isn't it a school day today?" And so, the majority of everyone had to leave. Even though Tohru was reluctant to leave; she wanted to stay with me and comfort me. Poor angel, if she gets a boyfriend, it'll be catastrophic when they break up.

Oh, and when I mean the majority of everyone, I mean that Yuki, Kyo, and Tohru left, leaving me with this creepy Shigure dude. We're not in the same room at the moment, though – he said that he had to do something for a minute. But man, I don't like those vibes that he's giving off. I think I'm getting psyched. Or maybe it's because I'm getting claustrophobic. Or bored. Maybe a little bit of both.

But I guess it's been silently decided that I would stay with the Sohmas' (and Honda's) until I get better, so that makes life a little easier for me. For now.

It's quite annoying to just be left in a room with nothing to do and a sack of potatoes for a body. But luckily, I get better much faster than the average person… for some reason. I tested my arms. They were still sore, but at last, I could move them! My legs are a different story. They're so beaten that they're numb. So no using them. _Okay, I'll just stay here for the entire day, quietly; try to sleep, maybe._ I think, knitting my fingers together, like I'm about to take a long rest. Oh, who am I kidding? I'm out of here! I wriggle a little, trying to plan my way onto the floor while I'm at it. My eyes light up as I think of one of my best ideas yet.

I shake my head as if I'm refusing a plate of southern turnip leaves, and my pillows fall on the floor on my left. One, two… all three of them on the floor. Not only do I want to be quiet; I also don't want a broken nose. My fingers clutch the bed mattress, and I use them to help roll myself off. _THUNK _Dang it. So much for my cat-like stealth. Oh, dear, I think that Shigure might have heard me. I wait helplessly as I hear footsteps, my face pressed into soft feathers. _Ow, my glasses are pressing into my eyes…_ I think numbly. The door slides open, and I turn my head to see two socked feet besides my head. Shigure's hands also appear on the floor, and his face soon follows. He's, surprise-surprise, also wearing glasses and the first serious expression I've seen on his face; somewhat jaded interest. "Bored, are we?" He teases, that stupid grin coming to his face again.

"No, I just like rolling myself off my bed and hurting my eyes with my glasses." I mutter to myself. "Please help me up, 'Gure-san." I say louder. He looks like a guy who likes nicknames, so I might as well kiss up to him (since I'm in his house and all)

Instead of instantly simply picking me up like I expected, he dissapears and comes back. Then I squeak when he slides a sheet of something, poster or cardboard maybe, under my stiff figure and pillows. He then whipped out a hole puncher, punched a hole in the sheet, laced a string through, and started dragging me across the floor. This is... awkward, and...wrong. Something tells me that this isn't normal for men, even boys. Is he scared that I'll attack him or something? Attack of the rabid American girl! I'm sure there's a Japanese horror on that somewhere. Maybe he has a girlfriend... and is prone to pestering girls whether he was single or not? I shoot him a questioning look, but his back is to me, and I feel like I'm a dog during a walk. I think, and laugh a little, my stomach muscles stinging. "You Sohmas are strange."

He turnes around and sort of smiles despite himself. "Yep!" Then he thinks for a minute, and addresses me. "You're very straightforward, aren't you?" "I don't have much to hide. Are you an actor?" The curiosity just kills me. He's very good at hiding his feelings. He would be a very early actor if so – I've never seen such convincing acts off-screen. _Will he be 'angry' at me?_ I wonder as he puts me down on the sofa. But I think that he's flattered; his face lights up and sparkles seemed to dance in the air "No, I am a… ROMANCE WRITER!" He gloats proudly with one hand pointing to the ceiling, the sparkles almost blinding me before they are gone. It's in this moment that I realize that he changed the subject. Sly dog. Shigure produces a few novels from his kimono. How long have they been there? I glance at the covers blatantly, and am shocked to recognize all of them. I blushed in pleased shock.

"YOU'RE Kiritani Noa!" I almost shout in spite of myself. "You've read my books!" I flush, and wanted to hide it, but I was too excited. "Maw Maw had some… you're a… a good writer." I sputter, embarrassed, but feeling honored like I've just met celebrity material. And I knew that Shigure could be celebrity material if he tried. "I know, right? But…" He comes close, and I get worried. "the book's for adults." I blush. "I'm at an adult level of understanding." I managed to reply. Shigure's eyes seem to dazzle in that old-man perv way that they do. "Aaya! We've picked up a girl perv! Girl perv!" He sings. I glower at him darkly, feel around me for a moment, and throw a vase at his head. He caught it almost reflexively. I stuck my tongue at him. "Don't call me a perv, perv." So much for kissing up to him. "Uwa! So ruuude!" He chides, flitting this way and that with the vase and his glasses in his hands. Then he's "serious," shaking his finger at me. "You should be good to your elders! And what was your name, anyway?" "Ruka Himura." That guy's just so… random! _No, no… he's manipulative_. I argue with myself. You have to be clever in order to be such a good writer. It made sense. And I already knew that he had a weird streak that first time I saw him. "I'm Kiritani Noa! But you can call me by my –" He comically darts his eyes this way and that (like he's checking if someone is listening in) " – real alias. SUPEEERRR SHIGURE SOHMAAAA!" I laugh while he sings his superhero theme song. But why is my opinion changing? Dang, I think that I'm getting along with the guy anyway!

~ **YUKI'S POV ~**

Class was the same as any other day that it was before. But, for some reason, without event. "Pst! Hey!" I chanced a look behind me, and saw Uotani poking Tohru and Hana into a private discussion. "Where's –" Kyo was looking at the blackboard behind the teacher's left ear as she taught us our second day of mathematics. Or at least tried. She suddenly smiled wickedly at us all and stroked her fingernails across the board to make a loud screeching sound. Everyone winced and complained, save for me. Akito is so much worse than that… I almost gasped out loud as he came into my head. I raised my hand. "Yes, Sohma?" "May I go to the restroom?" "Yes." She nodded at me. As I closed the door, I heard her speak sarcastically to the class. "Hey! Hey! I'm _real _sorry to interrupt your conversations, but we're going to have a test on this Monday!"

I found myself in the school gardens again, like yesterday. Yesterday… why does everything remind me of him? Will he ever leave me alone? How far away do I have to be to stop him from torturing me mentally?

"Excuse me." A curt voice says above my head. A wrinkled school patroller looks down at me, trying to look more suspicious than awed, as she truly is of my physical appearance. "What business do you have outside of class?" "Restroom. But I felt dizzy." Her face softened. "Do you need to go to the infirmary?" "No, but thank you." I smiled at her, charming her to make her go away. She blushed, blinked, and strode off, muttering that she thought she heard someone in the hallways. I breathed in deeply, hands balling up and quivering. I hated fooling people. I hated deceiving them, not telling them how I feel, or straight out saying "GO AWAY I'M UPSET!" like I wanted to tell that patroller. Like… Himura-san. She interrupted Akito yesterday, using the exact two words that the patroller had first said; "excuse me." I scanned through the conversation meekly, and paused at something. "Is he one of your boyfriends?" She had peeked at me from under her bangs at that moment. What the- ? God! She thinks that I'm gay! I'm not gay!

I put my head in my hands. Damn it. Damn my cursed appearance. I'm not gay! I quickly tried to stop thinking, to simply focus on the smell the garden around me… But my mind couldn't help but wander. On her. Again. Arrgh! Americans!

But I paused in my quiet mind-rant. She's certainly strange. What made her stop Akito? If she didn't know us, we certainly didn't know her. What makes her so… different? So straightforward? What was she doing yesterday, skipping badminton and ending up trying to uproot my vegetable garden. _Ah! I still need to check it._ I was reminded. I made a note of that, but kept on thinking, feeling myself relax. Even her hair is strange and boisterous; the other girl that is now back at home. Weird.

**~ RUKA'S POV ~**

Shigure and I talked books for a while until he got a call from his editor and had to go back to his writing work. I managed to reach the remote and surfed through the TV until I got bored of that, too. There was a pad of paper under the couch, and I found a mechanical pencil in between the cushions, so I started to draw.

Truthfully, one of the things that I love most about Japan, and one of the chief reasons I actually moved here is the manga there. Ever since I discovered it in America, I started teaching myself how to draw some serious sketches. It was difficult at first, but it's so easy and fun for me to draw now! I think that I'm a fast learner. And I think I'm a good drawer.

I draw randomly, first starting with the eyes and long lashes of a beautiful young woman, and then gently curving my pencil around them to make her face. It's so easy it's almost like walking! I almost already know where everything has to go. Sad smile, slender limbs, a tear dripping off her chin, clad only by a wrinkled sheet that wraps modestly around her body. Her hair flows around her body, the ends nearly touching the small puddle of water as she gazes at her reflection. I studied her, almost shocked by what I drew. She looks like she's in pain - the sheets pulling her body into all these different directions, her face now looks like she's struggling instead of simply looking at the water. Her sad smile is now really the beginning of a grimace. She wasn't posing - she was fighting. Fighting to get to that water. Another world. My fingers dropped the picture like it was hot metal, but my eyes followed it to the floor. The girl haunted me. Who is she? Narcissus? Calypso? I honestly have no idea. It isn't until I'm asleep that, deep in my subconscious, I confirm; yes, the lady is really just an exaggerated drawing of me.

**~KYO'S POV~**

Aaya, the day's been so long and boring. The second day of stinking school, and everything's still the same. We still have the same seats, same teacher, same stupid Yuki fan club hounding Yuki. I smile at the thought. Stupid rat, he deserves it! For being so annoying. Anyway, it's the end of school for the whole week, and I can't wait to just go home and eat something. Tohru's walking home with the Yankee and Pyscho-freak… uuhhh… the freak gave me that weird look again… The Rat's walking behind me, and he's kinda weirder than normal today. I didn't know why. I yawned loudly and stretched. Like I would give a damn, anyway. I swung my arms back and forth as I walked.

So Akito came to school yesterday. I resisted the urge to dent a passing streetlight. Damn him. Why does he always have to butt in and ruin everything? Everything that's a part of me, he trampled and stomped on with those tiny girly feet that he has. I hate him. Hate him for everything. I glanced at Yuki. No, I hate him more. So, I'm supposed to win against him in a fight. I've never been able to beat him in a fight yet. It's been a while. I flexed my powerful muscles under the thin school uniform. But I'm ready. In fact, why don't I just take him out n-

Hana and Yankee had went over to the other fork of the road, and Tohru was walking back, between me and Yuki. "I can't wait to go home! I wonder what Hi-chan is doing? If she's getting along with Shigure?" Oh, great. Here it is again with that weird American chick. And how's she doing with Shigure? I almost shuddered. Eurgh, I don't want to think about it. Stupid dog. I think Yuki started to walk faster. Okaaayyyy. I looked at the trees for a moment, and I got angry again. "Why did that teacher have to give us that essay today, anyway? Ruining my whole weekend!" Tohru laughed.

**~ YUKI'S POV ~ **

"Maybe if you'd just do it when we get home instead of dragging it out through the weekend, you would have more time to sleep in!" I wanted to growl at him. I don't like the idea of Shigure being alone with Himura-san. She does have the physique of a college girl, and for some reason, she acts like one, too. But wasn't she a year younger than us? Or was it two? I suppose that regular girls with weird heights eventually just learn to act their look. Maybe… maybe she was actually like me. Trapped from her looks, afraid that if she showed her true self, then she wouldn't be accepted, like me. Am I having an epiphany?

We entered the house one-by-one, into the living room, where Himura-san was sprawled across the sofa, with her head dangling to the floor and her feet stretched across the head of the couch. Weird. Thank goodness the kimono was bound tight. I barely noticed that Kyo and Tohru were also staring besides me in equal shock. Shigure walked into the room. "Hey, I heard you guys coming – ahk!" He stopped short, his eyes falling on Himura-san as well. An inner turmoil of fighting battled within him, and the usual side won. He laughed, hard. "WAH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" He clutched his sides and nearly fell to the floor in his obnoxious guffawing.

**~ RUKA'S POV ~**

My eyes snapped open, and I started in shock at the strange sound that woke me up. I lost my balance on whatever I was resting on, and made some sort of a back roll, my knees hitting on something hard and toppling it over. I landed with my belly on the floor and my chin bounced off the wood, making me bite my tongue and make a Stitch*-ish sound; "euagh!" Someone else cried my name in selfless worry. "Hi-chan!" Of course, causing me to lift my head and smack my crown against the surface of the flipped table. And biting my tongue again. "Mh-mh-mh-mh!" I made a whimpering sound with whatever was left of my tongue.

**~TOHRU'S POV~** Oh my gosh! Hi-chan!

**~KYO'S POV**~ WHAT THE -

**~YUKI'S POV~** What the – wait, what just happened?

**~SHIGURE'S POV**~ AH HA HA HA HA HA! OMIGOD JUST LOOK AT HER FACE! But that looked like it hurt!

~**RUKA'S POV (AGAIN)~**

Hands lifted up the table above me, and I was flipped onto my back and sat up to look at two deep purple eyes staring at me. Yak! I hastily put my tongue back in my mouth, trying not to look more stupid than I do already.

"Ah-ha-ha-ha," I giggled awkwardly, the pain in my tongue messing up my nervous laugh. "I'm going to get the first-aid kit!" I heard Tohru cry, both her voice and footsteps hurried. I blinked once, and Yuki and Kyo's face came into focus. One of Yuki's weirdly pale (but unquestionably handsome) hands raised my face so that I was looking into his eyes again, forcing me to look in his eyes as he searched my face concernedly, his nose only a few inches from mine. "Himura-san, are you all right?" My face began to heat up… aaaand suddenly I heard squelching sounds. "Chu-chu-chu! Kissy-kissy! Oh, lovely, budding roma – ow." Shigure, ruining the mood. Enter infuriated Kyo and Yuki, hitting him simultaneously at the exact right moment. And Tohru, almost dropping the first-aid kit in an adorably comical way when she sees Kyo and Yuki in that dark mood, trying to figure out what just happened. I tried to stifle my giggle, but ended up laughing out loud, stretching the cut on my chin. "HA(-ow)-HA(-ow)-HA(-ow)!" Everyone looked at me and ended up laughing. (Except for Kyo, he didn't get anything.) What a strange bunch!

**Forgive me for any of the swearing, it's not my fault they're like this! Oh, and an epiphany is a part of the story when one of the characters (usually the main character) realizes something unknown until then. But Yuki doesn't know that he's not – shh! – real, so… Oh, and major thing here; now I'm in high school, English got really into "deep meanings" of things, so it was actually really kind of fun and weird at the same time when I was writing the whole 'drawing' episode. Anyways, hope you liked this, sayonara! Send me lotsa reviewsies and I'll give you more cookies! Not the computer… type, I meant the sugar/chocolate chip kind. BYEEIEEEE!**


	8. Won't Put Them In Danger Anymore

**HALLO! Another chapter of Fruits Basket, yay! No reviews yet, but that's okay, that means I can eat the chocolate (^w^) I reread Furuba every once in a while, and it's kind of awkward. Like, whenever I see Yuki flirting with Tohru, I'm like "**_**Yuki, ! Think of Ruka!"**_** Then I remember he doesn't really know Ruka, and I get sad. It's kind of funny afterwards, but when it's while it's happening, it's horrible. *laughs* When Yuki finally hugged Machi, all the time, I can picture sliding between them and saying "whatthehe-NONONONO!" Now that's funny. I don't really like Machi; I mean, she's nice and all, and she and Yuki could sort of relate to each other, but I kinda think Yuki deserved more… I used to think Takaya just shoveled a girl together and threw her at Yuki, but now, I think that Takaya really did try hard to find Yuki's perfect match, but ended up with Machi 'cause she couldn't think of anything else. I mean, for me, it would have been a lot more interesting if Yuki went out with a perfectly normal girl with a crazy imagination, but Takaya's different because she's determined to make as many wild and authentic people as she can cram into her stories. Because that's what makes the story pop.**

**Fruits Basket is not mine, but if it was, this would be how it would have gone:**

**RUKA'S POV**:

In all my life, I would have never imagined that this, this miracle that I'm living through every day, would truly happen. Back in California, living in the shadows of my cousin, Iwao, who was cherished like a god while I was kicked around and looked down on. No one wanted me, a girl, the younger of the two "children" of my parents. Mom, Dad… were always in love with each other, sure. Madly, even. But they never loved me. They always wanted a boy like Iwao; talented, strong, and most importantly, resembled the Japanese line that we were born of: the Miazaki line. Iwao is my cousin, an orphan that had come into my parent's care only two years before they had me; yes, Miazaki is my true last name.

My mind floated about in school, only four days after my arrival in the Sohma house, through my unhappy childhood in this manner; my legs healed quickly, though jerkily, after generous help from Tohru and the Sohmas, and now I'm back on my feet and into history class. All students were sitting rigidly in their seats as I fidgeted quietly with my pencil under my desk; the teacher was prepping us for an exam tomorrow, but I already knew all of Japan's history, whether I liked it or not. I stared at the teacher. She's tall, with light brown hair pulled into a ponytail at the back of her head, with a cute birthmark near the corner of her right eye. She could be a major looker if she let her hair down, maybe curl it, but I guess she hated the fuss; I definitely did, which is why I cut my hair so short. _Everyone should have short hair, then there would be happier people in the world_, I reasoned as I watched a fly flutter in and out the window… then the bell rang for lunch.

I stretched my arms out like a cat, and stood up, almost knocking the back of my chair into the student's behind me. A Yuki Fan Club girl. She glared at me, and I gripped my books hard so my eyes couldn't pop wide and show how scared I was of that crazy girl-horde group. I crammed my books into my backpack and joined Hana, Uotani, and Tohru a few desks away from me. Kyo and Yuki lingered for a second, but both eventually wandered off in different directions as we all walked down the hall to our lockers. I grabbed my bento-box from mine and stuffed my backpack in its place, whispering to Tohru, "sorry you had to make my bento." She smiled back before we reached Hana and Uo, saying "don't worry about it, I'm fine!" Nice girl.

All four of us girls sat in a circle with our lunches, and Uo leaned back on the chain fence, ripping up a bar of chocolate first. "Are you feeling better?" Hana spoke quietly, but everyone knew that she was directing her talk to me. I nodded. It was hard for anyone to not notice that I had bruises on my arms – Uo thought that a gang had taken me out and was ready to murder until I explained to her that I had an accident. It wasn't a lie, though, because the whole thing about Mawmaw's death was pretty much an accident. I tried not to sigh into my rice ball – it's like everyone says – one lie just builds up to another and another and another. Though I haven't been telling lies, only very little of the actual truth, that's all. I should tell them of my situation soon – but how soon?

Tohru broke the silence. "Isn't it wonderful that we have no school on Friday?" Before, Kainbara High didn't have the first Friday off of school like American schools do, but since the student population had gotten bigger than the last decade, the School Board had reluctantly granted Friday as a "Teacher Work Day" in order for the teachers of the school to be more prepared for their crazy students. Which none of the students had a problem with, of course. Uo-chan's eyes lit up "I'm going shopping!" She said, pumping a fist as she spoke around her tamagoyaki. "I ran out of clothes, so." She shrugged, and clacked her chopsticks as she continued to dig in. Hana blinked "I'm going to my grandmother's place. Take advantage of the time, maybe learn something." We all nodded approvingly. "Well, what about you guys?" I stared at Uo's plate – she must have made a world record for finishing her food that quickly. I shrugged and made a helpless face. "I don't know. Maybe I'll explore around here." "You should go to the park! They have lots of little dogs there, and it's really fun to look at the trees while you walk!" Tohru suggested, raising her pointer finger. Uo hugged Tohru. "So cuuuute!" She crooned, lightly squeezing Tohru's head, and I could almost see what Tohru was thinking – _does she mean the dogs? Oh, yes, the dogs are very cute!_ Hana joined the hugging, so I did as the Japanese did and joined them very happily.

Then the bell rang. "Tch." Uo clucked, disappointed. "Over already? We were having a good moment here!" I smiled as we all gathered our things and parted. These people are all together for life – with or without me. I frowned, and Tohru cast a curious glance at me, but I ignored her. So, in the end, it's come to this, huh? I bit my lip as I suddenly found myself back into my class seat, and the teacher started talking again. Rubbing my temples, I leaned back into my seat. My decision has been made.

**~ YUKI'S POV~**

It has been four days after Himura-chan has come into the house. I brushed the hair out of my eyes as I walked out of high school, which was, fortunately, the last day of the week. Thank goodness there are more students – that's why we have school off on a Thursday, because of the "Teacher Workday" (which the school has adapted after the American schools), so that the teachers can get prepared for the rest of the year after going through the main atmosphere of the new year of teaching. This gives one more three-day weekend to recover after getting used to school again. God bless America.

Like the last year in school, I've expected the year to be different in some special way – but it wasn't really changed, it just got harder, as usual. But then again, now that Himura-san is at our school, things do seem different. At first the class was slightly hostile to her for being American, but they got used to her, and the class seems to have settled down. Well, calmed down more than usual, I suppose.

The whole week went by without her finding out about our secret – probably since she's been so busy doing whatever she does when she goes out after dinner. But I thought that she would eventually find out – Honda-san has been in the house for barely a day until she found out the secret. Perhaps Honda-san was just there at the wrong time, and the wrong place. There _was _a time when I thought that Himura-san had figured out our secret, when she heard Kyo calling me a rat and trying to challenge me again. She said; "what does that make you, a cat?" Everyone froze for a second, and right when I thought that she was going to figure us out somehow, she said; "I'm sorry, did that offend you?" So everyone relaxed. But I feel as if that's going to change soon, and not just because of the suspense.

Momiji danced happily around us, babbling with Tohru and getting noogie-d by Kyo… Himura-san walked at the other end of the group, opposite me, staring hard at the ground with her hands shoved in her pockets. Yes, she changed her skirt to a longer one, much like Hana-chan's… except that it was blue, the school color, rather than black. Something bumped my elbow, and I turned to see Haru knocking mine with his. "You okay?" He asked, his opaque cow eyes studying me in his eerily calm way. I tugged my backpack strap. "Yes." But my eyes trailed over, and he followed my line of vision to Ruka. "I think she likes my jewelry." He stated, kicking a rock in his way. "She keeps staring hard at my rings. Or maybe she likes me." Before I knew it, I had knocked him on the head with my fist, a little harder than usual. "Don't talk about her like that." "She does have something on her mind, does she?" He continued, almost ignorant of my reaction, save for what looked like a small smile. I blushed. "I don't know. She hasn't been with us very long, maybe she's just like that." "She has something on her mind." Haru confirmed. How does he know these things? Haru paused and sneaked a not-so-subtle look at me before saying: "Maybe you should talk to her." "Shut up."

**~ RUKA'S POV~**

The dinner was awesome. Again. "Tohru, you should be a cook when you grow up!" "Eh?" Everyone looked at me in interest. "Well, you like working, and you're good at cooking, right? So you should be a cook when you grow up!" Tohru blushed furiously, and she didn't look like she knew what to say, so I quickly helped her out. "Ah, at least, that's what I would think." I added, quickly shoving some yakisoba in so I wouldn't say something else stupid. Shigure was looking between the both of us in surprise. "Yes, in fact, you should consider a job like that, Tohru. Your cooking really is good. Ah, perhaps I should help myself to another plate of yakisoba for that!" He suggested. "Ah, yes!" I scowled at him. _Piggy. Don't take advantage of Tohru!_ There was a conking noise, and two identical bumps appeared on each side of Shigure's head, making it look like he had miniature horns. The look actually suited him. "Eh – EH?" Tohru exclaimed in confusion until Kyo and Yuki told her "Don't mind him." in a monotonous voice. Tohru returned to her seat, and the table was quiet until everyone had finished their dinner – which sort of surprised me. Today was Friday, so now that it was the weekend, I expected everyone to be more talkative around me. But they don't talk very much in front of me, for some reason.

I was compelled to make conversation, which is funny because I'm usually a quiet person. "Uh… are any of you guys doing anything this weekend?" Shigure shrugged, Yuki and Kyo blinked, and Tohru said; "I'm going to clean out the bedrooms tomorrow!" "So, just hanging around?" "Pretty much." I fiddled with my chopsticks during another awkward silence, and took a deep breath and stopped dancing around the subject. "… when do you want me to leave?"

"Leave?" They all asked at once. I made a mental sigh. Why are they all so high-strung around me, and why are they always surprised when I say anything? "You don't have to leave." Shigure stated. "I've actually been thinking of asking the head of the family to let you live here." Immediately, all three of the teenagers exchanged looks. Why are they so like this? I mean, Akito's a creep, but come _on_. "You really don't have to go." Yuki finally nodded. Everyone looked at Kyo and Tohru. "Eh, I don't care." Kyo shrugged, stuffing his face. "Well, if it's okay, then I'd be so glad if you could stay with us, Hi-san!" Tohru said sincerely, her cheeks becoming rosy with hope. Yuki was staring at Shigure with a wary look, and Kyo and Tohru were glancing to the side, doing a terrible job of trying to hide their nervousness. Then something clicked. Oh. My. God. They're all hiding something from me. "Oh!" I said out loud, and they all looked at me questioningly. "… oooookaaaaayyy. Um. I'm done with dinner. May I be excused?" "Sure." They all said at once. I collected my dishes and cup, and scurried to the kitchen.

Alone, I leaned on the counter. The Sohma family was hiding something. From me. What could be so important that they're hiding from me? Waaiit a moment… are they in the black market, or a mafia? I tried to picture a tough-looking Tohru with a gun in her hands. Nope. Definitely not. But Tohru's in on the secret, that's for sure. I'm apparently in a position where I don't belong here – the secret must be something big, and if they're too scared to trust me around them, then obviously I shouldn't be here. Just like I've been keeping secrets from them, they've been keeping secrets from me. And I deserved it. Their generosity is wonderful, but I shouldn't mess with them anymore – I've been too much of a burden. And everyone will relax again and be happy. The End! I won't have to worry about putting them in danger anymore.

I made sure to make clanging noises with the dishes and stomped up the stairs, thinking. Every day after dinner, I've been checking up on my piano; sanding down the smaller scratches I've made on it, picking at the bigger ones, and it actually playing. Yes. The most random thing in the world – playing an upright piano in the middle of the woods. You'd think that someone would hear, right? It wasn't really playing it, of course, I was just fooling around with the keys. I was never taught piano. But most of the time I had a break and just flopped myself down on a patch of moss and thought, or, like usual, fell asleep. I've been weighing my options ever since Maw Maw had – died, and now I was sure that it was best if I left tomorrow morning, to avoid conflict and make everything easier. Maybe I should give my piano to someone – I can't lug that thing all over the place anymore. It's just stupid to do something like that – I learned my lesson. Hana-san would like it, I think – it's in an overall good condition, and it was easy to paint something black. I grabbed a jacket – now was usually the time I started towards the forest – but passed the living room/dining room doorway and heard Yuki talking to Shigure. "Akito wouldn't like that – would probably –" At hearing these words, I hesitated, and put my jacket back in the closet. Maybe I won't see my piano today.

I jogged up the stairs and into my – er, Tohru's room, flopping myself down on the floor since I didn't want to ruin her mattress. I've been sleeping here every night, supposedly with Tohru in her bed, but after she's asleep, I've always dragged my pillow onto the floor so I wouldn't, like, kick her in my sleep or something. I don't think I've done that before, but well… you just never know. I curled into a fetal position, letting the warmth in me grow from my chest to the rest of my body. It's been a long week, and I'm going to have to do a lot of work tomorrow if I want to run away and get away with it.

**YAAAYYY! T_T I'm so sorry, guys. I promised to update as soon as I finished exams, but then Chemistry stepped in the way. Yup. Story of my life: battling the covalent bonds and p sublevels. Anyways, I had fun writing this chapter! I'm on Deviantart now (don't know if I already said this before; and my username is the same) … I don't have a lot of time to update there (hence Mr. Chemistry), but I'll probably make some doodles on this story. I've made a new friend in PE, and she's really nice. I've told her about Ruka and everything, and the conversation, coming from someone who I know and can relate to me (my Mom doesn't read manga :P), made me rethink and discover a couple of things… which you will find and most likely enjoy. No, no, I'm not changing stuff just because of someone else. I'm changing things because I've finally figured what sounded right. READ RATE AND REVIEW! Pleeeaassee? **


	9. Just Let Me Faint

**Hey, guys! Whew, it's been a while. I'm not going to talk much, but I suddenly came up with an idea and posted another poll on my profile. No, it won't effect the story, I'm just curious about who you would pair Ruka with. It would be cool to see what you guys think about her outcome! Anyways, please feel free to drop by and cast your vote. Or message me, if anything that I listed in the poll wasn't exactly your choice, or if you'd like to elaborate a little bit on your decision. I'm really really excited, now everything's going to get so much more fun! And if you forgot, I'm on Deviantart, with the same username as this one, so don't be shy and say hello if you see me! Oh, and Fruits Basket isn't mine, DARN IT!**

**Ruka's POV**

I woke up at 10 AM. Yeah, great timing for an early-morning escape plan, huh? I smacked my forehead when I saw the clock – why didn't I think of putting the timer on? I came up into a sitting position, and realized that I was in Tohru's bed again. I was on the floor when I fell asleep… she must've hauled me up or something! I blushed in shame. I should probably apologize when I see her again… if I do.

I hauled myself out of bed and changed my clothes. It's going to be trickier, trying to run away in broad daylight, so maybe I shouldn't do that. Or maybe that's exactly the reason why I should. _Aaargh, to have someone make all the stupid decisions for me!_ I thought, frustrated with myself.

**Shigure's POV**

It was around eleven when Ruka woke up. I was sitting at the table in the living room when I heard the fridge being opened; I poked my head around the corner to catch Ruka taking out a carton of milk. Huh. So she likes milk just like Kyo. "Good morning, Ruka-chan!" "Hm?" She turned, and her eyes spotted me. She waved ruggedly. "Mm." She grunted, taking out a glass and pouring the milk inside. I leaned on my hand as I looked at her. She didn't prefer to talk in the morning, and even after she started talking, she still looked a little dazed – which was why teasing her was so enjoyable.

I walked next to her, and leaned on the counter while she took out a strudel from the toaster. "Smells good." I pressed, putting an arm around her shoulder flirtatiously. "What flavor is it? Strawberry?" Ruka shoved me off her. "Stop bugging me, Gure-san. It's blueberry." I blinked when she called me this – that was Ayame's pet name for me, and Ruka never spoke like that. "What? You want milk, too?" She asked, not looking at me and adding a little more to her cup until it almost overflowed. I watched her hand; it was shaking. I smiled cheerily. "Nah, I'm good."

Ruka knows. She knows something. Did one of the boys –? Nah, they would've told me, and Ruka would be going around with all kinds of questions about us – I know her type. I returned back to the dining table and sipped my tea, looking at the TV screen but not really watching it. I peeked at Ruka from the corner of my eye. When is she going to just come out with whatever's bothering her so much? I don't think that she can hold much longer with that secret she so desperately wants to tell us. I wonder what it is? The story of Maw Maw did sound a little fake, I suppose – whenever she talked about her past, she always had a poker face on, but her eyes betrayed her. She's probably not telling us everything, that's all. My guess is that it's something big, but que será será, right? So long as she keeps everything interesting, I don't really care. It will be fun to see how she finds out about the curse, as there is no doubt that she will find out somehow soon.

"Hey, Gure-san, where'd everyone go?" I shrugged, leaning back on the couch. She's checking where everyone is? What is she up to, I wonder? "Yuki and Tohru are at his secret base or something, and Kyo's probably on the roof, I think." There was a pause. "Oh." There was a quick clatter of dishes being put in the dishwasher and I heard Ruka stomp up the stairs. It was a moment before she came back down again, passing by me quickly in a rush of wind and calling "I'm going out, Gure-san!" Hm? I flinched when she slammed the door. All these young people are trying to destroy my house! But looking at Ruka's uncharacteristic behavior, I think that the trouble may be worth the action that we'll get today.

**~ Ruka's POV~**

I think I made it a little too obvious that something was up. I couldn't relax when I was around Shigure, and my palms kept getting sweaty, and I think my hands were shaking, too. I cursed under my breath as I walked through the lush greenery of the forest. It was just my luck that I had to face the clever, conniving writer in the morning, the time when I was least composed. My palms are still sweating from that moment; I rubbed them against my jeans hastily. Yeah, I'm wearing my old clothes again, the ones that I wore the night Maw Maw died – and I left a note on Tohru's dresser with money on it and a written apology for running away. I sighed. I really should settle down somewhere– this whole running away business was starting to get a little old – even the thrill was starting to wear off.

I started hearing voices – yup, Tohru and Yuki were at Yuki's "secret base" garden. I flushed, remembering how I tried to steal leek from it before I passed out. Lame, lame, lame. Veering off to the right, I began to search for my piano, and then stopped. What was I thinking? I could just leave the piano and go without it! It would be fine in the woods, right?

_Stupid, stupid, stupid_. I cursed myself silently as I pushed the piano once again, a few minutes later after that. _I'm darn lucky that this ground is so level, I hate it that I'm so materialistic, why am I even lugging this thing around, anyway?_ I scolded myself. I made sure that Yuki and Tohru had left before I started moving the piano, so that they wouldn't see me and start asking questions. I chewed on my lip and kicked at a couple of branches out of the piano's way. I really don't want to go. Even though I had only been with the Sohmas (and Honda) for barely a week, I loved how they readily accepted me, even if they were hiding a secret from me. I've never been as happy before – up until meeting them and Maw Maw, rejection was the only thing I seemed to know about life.

Should I still go to Kainbara High? Should I relocate to a different town? Oh, Maw Maw, if you were only here to boss me around again…

**~ Tohru's POV~**

It's such a beautiful day! I smiled as I walked back to the Sohma house with Yuki-kun. The sun is so warm, and the strawberries are almost finished with growing at Yuki's secret base! I smiled happily to myself and giggled. But I wish that we could have taken Hi-chan with us… I wonder if she would like Yuki's base? I giggled again. Probably. We were the ones who caught her trying to take leek from the garden. I realized that Yuki-kun was a little ahead of me, and hurried to keep up when I heard a rumbling sound from somewhere. _Is there a train around here?_ I thought, curious, looking for whatever was making the sound behind me. The sound was still there, but quieter now. Hm… I searched for the direction of whatever the thing was and tripped on something. "Ah!" I yelped, falling on my face.

"I really should watch where I'm going." I shook my head at myself, smiling as I remembered Mom and how she used to say the same thing to me when I was little. We used to play tag sometimes in the park, and I was so excited that I would never look where I was going and bump into trees and other kids. I got on my knees and realized that my foot had caught on a piece of cloth. "Huh?" I came down to my knees and examined the clothes – it looked like some kind of beautiful dress. But why would there be a pile of clothes in the middle of the woods? I stared at it hard, and then it came to me. "Could it be –" "Tohru!" Someone called my name, and I whipped my head to see Hi-chan running towards me with a big stick. "Eh?" I asked, confused. "Tohru, look out!" I got to my feet, and Hi-chan swung her stick, her eyes fixed at the ground. "What –" I broke off when realized that Hi-chan was chasing after a strangely white snake.

**~Ruka's POV~**

I'd gotten really close to the trail, so close that if someone on the trail ever tried to squint into the bushes, then they would probably see me. I panicked, and tried to push the piano to the side, but there was a deep incline with rocks, so that not only the piano made a rumbling sound when I tried pushing it there, but there was that added fear that the piano might tip over and crush me – or get damaged somehow. Grr. I got back so I was close to the trail again and not on that bumpy incline, but hit a patch of pebbles so that the piano made a rumbling noise anyway. I sighed and just kept pushing, my mind wandering to the trail on the other side. I glanced over, and saw that not so far ahead of me was a girl with brown braids – Tohru! Shoot! I froze and stopped the piano, hiding as well as I could behind a bushy tree. But why was Tohru kneeling? I saw her hands, and it looked like she was examining a piece of clothing or something. _Strange that girls should like to do their stitching in the middle of the road_, I thought, confused. I never got that girly kind of stuff, but from the four days of being with Tohru, I knew that she had her odd moments. My eyes wandered over slightly to the left, where I saw an uncharacteristic white blotch against the dirt of the trail, and tensed. It was a snake. Why it was white, I don't know, but it looked kind of creepy, just edging a little bit at a time towards Tohru. Wait, what? I looked around and found a stick that could easily pass off for a club. What was that snake going to do to Tohru? I know it's a paranoid thought to think that the snake would do something like that, but bees used to chase me all the time in the summer. Maybe it has rabies… wait, can snakes even have rabies? I stepped forward, and I snapped a twig with my foot. At that, the snake jerked, and shot straight for Tohru. What the – "Tohru!" I broke out of the forest and wielded my stick, feeling kind of stupid and kind of brave at the same time. "Tohru, look out!" "What –" Tohru was confused, but followed my directions and got up quickly, just avoiding the snake.

I swung my club at the snake, and kept missing, each time letting it get a little closer to Tohru. What the heck was wrong with this thing? "Ayame!" Another voice called out, and the snake stopped for a moment, giving me just enough time to conk it right on the head. "YAH!" I yelled, shaking from the adrenaline rush. "I… I did it…" I gasped, catching my breath. I turned to see Yuki and Tohru staring at me. "What?" I rasped. "That thing was trying to attack Tohru!" Tohru peered at me, and then at the snake, which was lying motionless on the ground. "Oh!" She exclaimed, something obviously connecting in her head at the same time something in Yuki's did, making him turn really scary in an angry sort of way. Still wearing his gardening gloves, he picked up the snake and started walking home very quickly, leaving Tohru and I to follow him, confused. What was Yuki saying about irises?

"Y-Yuki-kun?" I asked nervously just before he flung the house door open, marched to a door (which turned out to be Shigure's office), and came right in front of Shigure, shoving the snake into his face. "Skin him! Barbecue the bastard!" Shigure had his glasses on, and was leisurely stretched out on his paper-covered desk until Yuki had arrived. He looked at the snake in surprise and recognition. Wait a moment, how do you recognize a snake? Well, besides the fact that this one was probably the only white one in the country of Japan, anyway. "Aaya?" The thing had a name? Yuki leaned forward. "Kill him… now…" Kyo had come in to see the situation, and stopped chewing on whatever he was chewing (I think it was a pork bun) "What's _he_ doing here?" Kyo asked, slightly irritated, as usual. "Hold on… calm down! Calm down, Yuki!" Shigure said nervously, getting onto his feet. Yuki glared at him for a moment, and then the snake, and then threw the snake into the hallway.

Why is Yuki tossing the snake in the hallway? Why did Yuki even bring the snake with us? WHAT'S ALL THIS CRAP ABOUT IRISES? Questions screamed in my head as I frustratingly tried to break down the situation in my head. I went into the hallway to check where the snake was. Tohru and the others seemed to have forgotten me and gone into the living room, because I could hear them talking about an older brother or something among each other. Where'd the snake go? I wondered, looking for it through the all the rooms in the hallway, until I was back in the hallway. I turned around, looking for it. Where did it go? The snake was lying motionless in the middle of the hallway, just before the living room entrance. Seriously? People are just gonna let it slither all over the house? A pervy snake? What's wrong with these people? And how the heck did it survive my hit? I was just about to try and get at it again with a broomstick when there was a sudden poof and pink clouds suddenly blurred my vision. The broomstick fell out of my hands. "About this, let me explain!" Drawled a sing-song voice. There was a flutter of cloth as the voice continued, and I froze in the spot. "Just then, I was feeling cold, so I was trying to find someplace warm. Once I find a warm body, grab and hold on… isn't this instinct?" Before me, the clouds settled, and a man with long silver hair stood leaning against the doorway. "Hi, everyone!" He didn't appear to notice that I was behind him. "How are you –" The silver-haired man asked lazily, "little brother?"

WHAT. THE. HECK. JUST. HAPPENED. That snake just turned into a silver-haired man! "Why did you try to 'hold on'?" Yuki yelled angrily at the man. "Not taking you to the police is already too kind!" "Oh! Kyon-kyon! I didn't know you where here!" The silver-haired man exclaimed, and an irritated voice growled back "Don't call me that!" Please… just let me faint now. I have a feeling that something bad's going to happen. "Let's not talk about Kyon-Kyon!" Silver-guy continued, again ignoring Kyo's "stop calling me that!" Ayame turned to Shigure. "I haven't seen you since New-Year's!" It was like I was in the nightmare where I couldn't move or scream: someone, please tell me what's going on, someone! "Since New Year's." Shigure agreed. "Long time, no see." Suddenly, the atmosphere turned lustrous as Silver-guy spoke. "During the time I wasn't here, did you see anyone else, Shigure?" "Even if you weren't here, I couldn't be like that. Ayame." Shigure replied. Automatically, they made a thumbs-up at each other, saying "All right!" I blinked…_what?_ Shigure then spotted me. "Ah…"

Please. Just let me faint now.

**A friend of mine was the one who gave me the idea of getting Ruka to chase after Ayame with a stick, but it probably wasn't as comic as she would've liked… but that's Ruka to you! I actually think it fit the scene quite snugly. Though it's kind of stupid that Ruka would go after a snake the way she did, she's also stupid to lug a huge piano around a densely vegetated area of trees. So it makes sense, right? So Ruka's true nature begins to take form, the curse is revealed, and the world has gotten a whole lot more complicated! So much fun…**


End file.
